Fifty Words
by LiveYoungDieFast
Summary: Pezberry take on the 50 Words In 30 Days Challenge.
1. Contest

**7. Contest**

As much as Rachel loved preforming on Broadway she was glad that her run in her latest show had recently finished. It meant that she could spend more time with her girlfriend and her best friend. They had been in a local bar for over an hour now and she had noticed that she's not the only one wanting Santana's attention.

"It looks like you've got an admirer over there Santana" Rachel says.

"It comes with the territory."

"What's does that mean?" Kurt asks.

"It means when you look this good, it's to be expected."

"It's nice to know you brought your ego out with you tonight" Kurt replies.

"It's not my ego, it's just fact. If you're attractive then you get more attention."

"I think people find personalities more attractive than a person's appearance" Rachel says.

"If that's true then how the hell did you end up with Santana?"

"Shut your mouth Lady Hummel before I shut it for you." Santana threatens before turning back to Rachel.

"You're wrong, people are shallow and the first thing they take notice of is looks not whether or not the person is a great conversationalist or has a good sense of humour."

"Why don't you find out?" Kurt suggests.

"What do you mean?"

"You both have an hour to see who can get the most phone numbers by using your preferred methods. Santana you can use your attractiveness and Rachel can use her personality."

"I'm game if you are" Santana says.

An hour later both Santana and Rachel return to the booth they left Kurt in.

"Okay Santana we'll count your first" Kurt says taking the numbers from Santana.

"Six."

"You only got six? I thought you'd get more than that" Rachel says.

"I did get offered a couple of one night stands but they didn't want to give me their number."

"So you went to the classy ladies I see" Rachel teases.

"Rachel Berry are you being sarcastic?" Santana smirks before pulling Rachel into a kiss.

"Okay guy please stop. Rachel it's your turn" Kurt interrupts.

Rachel hands over her pile of phone numbers, made up of scraps of paper and napkins.

"Ten, so it looks like Rachel wins" Kurt reveals.

"How did you get ten?"

"Why are you so surprised?" Rachel asks.

"I'm not, I was just curious" Santana replies.

"Well I met a lovely group of young men that were very willing to give me their phone numbers."

"What group of guys?"

"They're over there sat in that corner booth" Rachel explains pointing over to a table in the corner of the bar.

"Is Santana getting jealous that her girlfriend is hotter than she is?" Kurt teases.

"I'm not jealous and I'm very aware of how hot my girlfriend is. I'm just not happy that a group of guys think they have a chance with her that's all."

"There is no need to worry. You're the only person that I need" Rachel reassures her.

"Well I need another drink, what about you two?" Santana asks.

As she makes her way over to the bar she sees one of the guys from the booth waiting for his drink. She thinks that it's only polite that she introduces herself.

"Hey" she greets.

"I'm Santana. I heard you met my girlfriend before, her name is Rachel Berry."

"Oh you're Rachel's girlfriend. It was nice of her to come over to us. My friends and I are huge fans of hers. She was absolutely amazing in RENT" the guy replies.

From the moment he opened his mouth Santana's gaydar went into overdrive.

"My friends and I are part of a gay group chorus and every month we get together and watch a musical on Broadway. We are always looking out for the next Rachel Berry production. She told us that she has one in the works so we are all very excited."

"We all are. Excuse me."

Santana sends the man a smile before she marches her way back over to the booth where her girlfriend was sitting.

"So I just met one of your friends, turns out Rachel cheated on our contest" Santana says sliding into the booth.

"I didn't cheat."

"Yes you did. You were supposed to get the numbers of people that were interested in you" Santana replies.

"Those guys were interested in me."

"Not sexually they were only interested in your musical talents."

"When we agreed to the contest there was no mention that the numbers had to come from people that were sexually attracted to us" Rachel argues.

"It was implied!" Santana yells.

"I agree with Santana, sorry Rachel." Kurt interjects.

"So if we discount the gay choir, that leaves you with five numbers and since I have six that means I win" Santana says with a smug look on her face.

"Where are our drinks?" Kurt asks.

"Sorry I forgot. I go get you something pink and sparkly with a little umbrella" Santana smirks as she leaves the booth.

"I know you're trying to sound mean but that actually sound delicious" Kurt yells after her.

When Santana returns to the table with the drinks she finds two men standing at each side of her girlfriend.

"Who the hell are you two, are you members of the gay chorus?" she asks.

"Oh these two aren't gay" Kurt smirks.

"This is Jason and Tommy, they wanted to buy me a drink" Rachel answers.

"Well that's okay because I already got her one." Santana says putting down a drink in front of Rachel to emphasise her point.

"If you change your mind" Tommy says slipping his card onto the table in front of Rachel.

"I think we need a recount" Rachel says handing Santana the phone number.

"So you got another number that makes us equal on six each" Santana replies.

"Yes but the other guy slipped me his number before you came over, so you do the math."

* * *

_A/N Thank you to Beebeeborez who gave me plots and advice for this challenge. _


	2. Kiss

**2. Kiss**

There were many things that people didn't know about Rachel Berry. One of these things was her love for rock and roll. It started when she was younger, her fathers would play classic rock on their old record player and they would dance around the living room without a care in the world.

Things where much simpler then she thinks as she moves her fingers across the keys of the piano. The soft melody echoes through the empty auditorium. It was one of her favourite songs and the slower version she was playing really brought out the beauty of the lyrics.

_Tonight I wanna give it all to you  
In the darkness  
There's so much I wanna do_

She doesn't know exactly when she started to have these feelings. She thinks that they slowly crept up on her the more time she spent around Santana. They were brought together through glee club and even though the Latina didn't know it, Rachel saw a new side of Santana. It was a carefree side that's completely different to the front she puts on for the rest of the school.

_And tonight I wanna lay it at your feet  
'Cause girl, I was made for you  
And girl, you were made for me_

Rachel knows that Santana could never return her feelings. Although she has an inkling about Santana's sexuality, she knows a girl like her would never go for a girl like Rachel.

_I was made for loving you baby  
You were made for loving me_

_And I can't get enough of you baby  
Can you get enough of me?_

When Santana enters the auditorium she is instantly hit by the unmistakable voice of Rachel Berry. The melody of the song is soft and is complimented by the dulcet tone of Rachel's voice. She shouldn't be surprised that she found Rachel singing on the stage however the choice of song did surprise her. She would never have pegged Rachel as a Kiss fan.

_Tonight I wanna see it in your eyes  
Feel the magic _

Santana never thought that she would be jealous of Finn Hudson but hearing and feeling the emotion in Rachel's voice proves her wrong.

She knows that Rachel couldn't love her the way she loved the small diva. She often regrets the way she has treated the other girl and think that maybe they could have at least been friends if she had tried harder with Rachel.

_There's something that drives me wild  
And tonight we're gonna make it all come true _

She can't listen any longer to the girl she's secretly in love with singing a song about someone else. She quietly opens the opens the door and leaves without looking back.

_'Cause girl, you were made for me  
And girl I was made for you_


	3. Pets

**47. Pets**

"Okay so we are about to begin the Berry-Lopez family meeting regarding our decision to get a family pet. The last time we had this discussion we were at a stalemate over what pet we should get, so this is our opportunity to put forward our reasons as to why we should get which pet we want. Brice and I will go first." Rachel explains.

Seven year old Brice steps forward with a large pad of paper in his hands and props it up on the chair his mother had put out earlier.

"Ten reasons why the Berry-Lopez family should get a dog" he reads from the large pad.

"Seriously you made our son create a presentation?" Santana asks.

"Actually Mami I made it myself" Brice replies with a proud look on his face.

Brice might have been raised by a Lopez but he one hundred percent had the Berry genes running through him. It was the same with his eight year old sister Mia, raised by a Berry but was a hundred percent Lopez.

If it wasn't obvious from the fact that she looked like a little clone of Santana, it definitely was from the eye roll she sent her brother and his presentation.

"It's a lovely presentation Brice so feel free to continue" Rachel says.

"Thanks Mom. Reason one, protection. As well as being loving, caring creatures dogs can also be used as protection for the house."

"Not all dogs."

"Santana please do not interrupt our son. Carry on Brice."

"I'm just pointing out that not all dogs are good for protection" Santana says.

"What about Lassie or Underdog? They helped people" Brice suggests.

"They are fictional characters but if we're playing that game then what about Scooby Doo? A janitor under a sheet could scare him. I don't think I would rely on him to protect my house or what about Fang from Harry Potter? He was a wimp and left Harry alone in the forest." Santana replies.

"Mami and I want a cat" Mia declares.

"Mia it isn't your turn, we are listening to Brice's presentation" Rachel says.

"But it's boring and cats are so much better than dogs."

"How so?" Rachel asks.

"First of all you don't have to walk it every day. We can just let it wonder around the neighbourhood." Santana replies.

"And let it bring back dead furry animals? I don't think so" Rachel retorts.

"I want Puss in Boots" Mia says.

"Thanks Mia. See even fictional cats are way cooler than dogs. Puss in Boots is a total badass."

"Well what about Garfield? he wasn't badass. He was lazy and very bad mannered and not to mention Sylvester who was always plotting against Tweety Bird. Cats are menaces."

Brice and Mia just sit and watch as their parents argue over cartoon animals. It's not unusual for them to witness their parents argue over something so ridiculous. Just the other day they were arguing over what cereal to buy at the store. In the end they just ended up buying a box each.

It was a week later by the time the Berry-Lopez family pet fiasco was finally over.

"So are you happy with our decision?" Santana asks her wife.

They were both stood looking at their newly acquired pet or more specific pets. There on a cabinet in the corner of the room was a brand new fish tank containing four fish, one for each member of the family.

"Of course, there is no walking involved and no harm to other animals will occur plus the kids seem to be enthralled by them." Rachel says referring to the two children who were sat watching the tank.

"I can't believe you named your fish Fanny, you'd think naming our son after the Funny Girl character was enough."

"As if your fish's name is any better what kind of name is Stix for a fish?" Rachel asks.

"A totally badass one! You know I loved me some Breadstix."

Rachel kisses her wife on the cheek before they go and join their children admire their new family pets, Fanny, Stix, Scooby and Puss in Boots.


	4. Caught

**11. Caught**

Santana is sat at her desk re-reading the notes from the case she's currently working on. She knows who did it but there isn't enough circumstantial evidence to convict. It's one of the hardest parts about being a detective, watching the guilty people walk free.

She closes the file and her eye catches the photograph of her and Rachel sitting proudly on her desk. It doesn't bear thinking about that a scumbag like Derek Chance could be allowed to walk free to commit more crime or even hurt someone, someone like her sweet, innocent girlfriend.

Across the room the door to interview room opens and out steps Santana's lieutenant. A few moments later Derek Chance exits followed by his lawyer. He makes his way over to the elevator passing Santana's desk and sending her a wink as he walks by.

It makes Santana's blood boil and her knuckles turn white and she clenches her hand into a fist. She's irritated and frustrated but she would never let a guy like Derek Chance see that he's got to her.

As soon as he steps into the elevator and the doors close behind him Santana approaches her lieutenant.

"What happened?"

"We had to let him go. You need to drop it Lopez or his lawyer will sue our asses for harassment."

"It's bullshit, we know he did it."

"You get me some proof and I'll happily walk that son of a bitch into jail myself but without it we ain't got shit" Lieutenant Barnes replies.

She knows that she should leave it alone but it's been a week since Derek Chance has been roaming free on the streets of New York and she's just gotten some new information from an informant.

Apparently one of Chance's associates has been doing some deals without his boss' permission and Chance wants to deal with it personally. This could be her chance to put the son of a bitch in jail where he belongs.

She's currently parked across the street from a bar that Derek frequents. She spots him leaving the club with his arm wrapped around a brunette's shoulders.

She follows his car to a house and parks in a secluded part of the street. She can just about see him and the girl enter the house. She waits about half an hour before her impatience gets to her.

Santana sneaks up to the house and takes a look through the living room window but finds nothing. She quietly makes her way to the back of the house and checks the kitchen window.

It's dark in the house but she can just make out a figure holding a knife. She instinctively reaches for her gun and makes her way to the backdoor.

She tries the door knob and luckily for her it's unlocked. She slowly eases the door open and takes a step into the kitchen gun first.

"This is the police, put the weapon down and put your hands where I can see them. Now!" Santana yells.

Santana sees the figure move slightly and hears the sound of metal being places on the wooden table. She takes an apprehensive step forward giving her a proper view of the person standing in front of her.

"Rach" Santana says momentarily dropping her gun.

"Hello Santana."

"Don't move" Santana says raising her gun again as Rachel takes a step towards her.

"You don't need that." Rachel says referring to the firearm.

Santana chances a glance away from her blood covered girlfriend and looks at the body of Derek Chance on the kitchen table, quickly piecing together what had happened.

"I'm serious Rachel don't move or I'll shoot."

"Are you alone or are their other officers outside?" Rachel asks.

"I'm by myself. What the fuck have you done?"

"I'm sorry. You kept coming home from work complaining about this guy Derek Chance and I arbitrarily met him in a bar. I thought I could record a confession but things got out of hand."

"Bullshit. Look at all this stuff. You planned this Rachel."

"How can you say that? You know me." Rachel replies.

"I thought I did. What I do know is the M.O of a serial killer and you're pretty much fitting that description right now. You killed Chance in a premeditated murder and it doesn't look like the work of a novice. Have you done this before?"

"Yes."

"Jesus."

Santana drops her gun again and runs a hand over her face, struggling to comprehend what the hell is happening.

"I'm not a bad person." Rachel speaks again.

"You've killed people."

"They deserved it. What about him?" Rachel says motioning to Derek's body.

"He was a rapist and a murderer yet he's allowed to walk free, that's not right."

"That doesn't mean you should take the law into your own hands." Santana retorts.

"You know he probably would have raped me if he had the chance."

"Don't. Don't try and justify what you've done."

"The people I've killed all deserved it Santana, they were bad people that escaped the system. I stand by my choices but now you have to make yours. Are you going to call the police and have me arrested or are you going to turn around and pretend this never happened?"


	5. Suprise

**29. Surprise**

Today was Santana and Rachel's fifth wedding anniversary. They had the whole day planned. First, an early dinner at their favourite restaurant, then onto a performance of West Side Story at a local theatre.

The tickets for the theatre were one of Santana's present to Rachel. She knows that her wife likes to support the local theatre and ever since high school, West Side Story has always been a firm favourite of theirs.

Santana had picked the perfect outfit, her favourite red dress and a pair of killer heels. She was getting ready in the guest room whilst Rachel changed in their bedroom. She couldn't wait to see what her wife was wearing. Don't get her wrong, she thinks Rachel looks beautiful in a pair of sweat pants, but nothing compares to Rachel in a dress that hugged her in all the right places.

When Rachel walked out of their bedroom Santana was happy enough to forgo their plans and spend their anniversary in their bedroom, but when she expressed this idea to Rachel, her wife just shook her head and led her towards the front door.

They had their own private booth at the restaurant. It was lit by candles and had a single red rose in a vase in the middle of the table. As always the meal was perfect but Santana couldn't wait to get home for some dessert, unfortunately she still had a performance of West Side Story to go.

Although she claimed to have bought the tickets to keep her wife happy, Santana enjoyed the local theatre's performance. She even copied her wife's actions and sang along with the actress playing Anita, reminiscing about the time she was on the stage at McKinley.

As soon as they arrived home and Rachel locked the front door, Santana's hands were on her. Rachel's back was pressed against the wooden door whilst her lips where attached to her wife's. Rachel hands instantly went to tangle in Santana's hair as Santana moved her lips to that weak spot on Rachel's neck.

One of Rachel's hands trails from Santana's hair down her neck until it reaches the zip of Santana's dress. She pulls the zip down in one swift motion and helps her wife out of the dress.

Rachel pushes off the door causing Santana to take a couple of steps back, but it also allows her to reach the zip of Rachel's dress. Within seconds Rachel models her wife's state of undress in just her underwear.

Santana pulls Rachel in for another kiss. Five years of marriage and she still can't get enough of her wife.

"Bed?" Rachel asks against Santana's lips.

"Couch. It's closer."

They stumble towards the living room with their lips still connect and hands roaming on any part of skin they can find. As soon as they make it into the living room the lights turn on.

Gathered in the room were all of Rachel and Santana's family and friends. The room was decorated with balloons and hung on the wall was a big banner displaying Happy Anniversary.

"Surprise!"


	6. School

**12. School**

* * *

"I can't believe that Mia is starting high school this year" Santana says as she enters the living room.

"I know what you mean. It only feels like yesterday that we were changing her diaper."

"I thought we could take her up to Carmel one day this week so she can have a look around."

"Why would we do that? I assumed she would be going to McKinley" Rachel replies.

"There is no way in hell that I would let my daughter attend McKinley High."

"You mean our daughter."

"You know I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want Mia to go through all the things that we went through. I think we both can agree that we'd rather forget our experience of high school" Santana says.

"Actually I don't. I enjoyed my high school experience, well most of it."

"So you enjoyed the name calling and the slushying?"

"Ignoring the fact that you were a big contributor to the bad memories I have of high school. I still have some good memories. I joined the glee club, gained some dear friends who I won Nationals with and not to mention the fact that I met you" Rachel explains.

"I just think that McKinley has a bad atmosphere and Carmel would have so much more to offer Mia."

"How about we take Mia to both Carmel and McKinley and then she can decide for herself" Rachel suggests.

"Okay, fine."

"And you can't influence her decision." Rachel adds.

* * *

A week later and the Berry-Lopez family were walking round McKinley High School. They were scheduled to look around Carmel the next day and even though Rachel had asked her not to, Santana continuously tried to influence Mia's decision.

"It's a smaller school than Carmel. You know your Grandma Shelby used to be a successful show choir director there."

"Really?" Mia asks.

"Yes she was but she was also a director of a glee club here at McKinley too. Your Mami was a member until she lost against the New Directions that is."

"Yes, thank you Rachel. You weren't even part of that competition because you got yourself suspended."

"I was helping out a friend" Rachel retorts.

"By fixing an election, that's not very sportsman like Rachel. Hey look there's my old locker."

"Do you remember when I gave you that photo to put in your locker?" Rachel asks.

"Of course I do, I kept it in there until we graduated."

"Mom, Mami what's this room?" Mia calls standing outside of a room further down the hallway.

"This is the choir room. It's where your Mami and I used to sing in glee club" Rachel replies as she walks into the room.

"It still looks the same" Santana says.

"Did you ever sing together?"

"A few times. I Kissed A Girl was a favorite of mine" Santana replies.

"I always favored So Emotional since it was just the two of us."

"What about We Found Love In A Hopeless Place?"

"Although you'd never admit it you just loved seeing me in a bathing suit" Rachel replies.

"I have no problem admitting it now and just so you know I still love seeing you in a bathing suit." Santana smirks, pulling Rachel over to help and connect their lips.

"Mami!"

"What? You should be happy that your parents are still in love" Santana says slightly pulling away from her wife.

"I am. I just don't want to see it" Mia replies.

"Then you better close your eyes for a minute" Santana smirks before pulling Rachel in for another kiss.

"Okay, I think that's enough torture for our child for one day."

"So Mia, where do you want to go next? What about the cafeteria?" Santana asks.

"We can tell you about the time we did a tribute to The Go-Go's and danced on the tables which unfortunately ended in a mass food fight" Rachel says.

* * *

They had spent the day touring Carmel High School so after dinner Rachel and Santana had decided to talk to Mia about her high school future.

"So Mia do you have any idea which school you might choose?" Rachel asks.

"I've already chosen. I want to go to McKinley" Mia replies.

"Are you sure? Carmel is a better school" Santana says.

"Santana we said that we would let Mia make her own decision" Rachel reminds her wife.

"So what made you choose McKinley?"

"You did. You two met there and you have all of these amazing memories."

"We also have some bad ones too." Santana points out.

"I liked it there and I'm bound to have some bad experience anywhere I go, that's just the nature of high school right?"

"She has a point."

"Okay fine, if you want to go to McKinley then that's okay with me" Santana says.

"Thanks Mami" Mia beams giving Santana a hug before moving on to Rachel.

"Thanks Mom."

Santana waits until Mia leaves the room before she turns towards her wife.  
"She'll be okay at McKinley won't she?"

"Of course she will and if anything happens she has a Mami that will be there to protect her." Rachel replies.


	7. Pregnant

**48. Pregnant**

As Kurt walks into the living room he comes across a scene that he has witnessed many times over the past couple of weeks. There on the couch, Santana and Rachel were cuddled up watching a movie.

In a way he was glad that his friends had found happiness in each other. He just wished that they didn't show that happiness all over the loft. He can never walk into a room these days without finding Santana's lips attached to Rachel.

Just yesterday he walked into the kitchen to find Santana with her arms wrapped around Rachel's waist as she chopped vegetables. Her lips firmly planted on Rachel's neck. The only time they left his best friends neck was when Rachel fed her a piece of vegetable.  
It seemed strange at first. He didn't know how to react when he first walked into the living room to find them kissing on the couch, but the more he saw of them together, the more it made sense.

It had all started after Santana had made it her mission to find out what Brody was really up to and once the secret was out she was the one to comfort Rachel. Since then the scene before him became a regular occurrence.

"Hey guys, what you watching?" Kurt asks.

"Funny Girl."

"You're watching Funny Girl without me?"

"She's still not feeling well. She's been throwing up all morning so I thought it might cheer her up" Santana replies.

"Do you know what's wrong yet? It isn't infectious is it?"

"I don't know what it is but Santana has been with me for the past few days and she hasn't shown any symptoms" Rachel answers.

"I told her if it continues I'm taking her to see a doctor" Santana adds.

"I don't need a doctor now can we please watch the rest of the movie."

"Fine."

"Are you going to join us Kurt?" Rachel asks.

"Sure."

At least if Rachel was sick Santana would keep her lips to herself. He later finds out that he couldn't say the same for her hands.

When Santana arrives home from work the next day she expects to find Rachel on the couch watching some form of musical, so she's surprised when she finds that the living room is empty.

She pulls back the curtain to their bedroom and finds her girlfriend curled into a ball on the bed.

"Rach, what's wrong?" Santana asks noticing Rachel's tear stained eyes.

She gets onto the bed and wraps her arms around Rachel's body.

"I went to see the doctor today."

"Please tell me that you're okay."

"I'm pregnant."

Rachel is slightly unnerved that Santana hadn't said anything. She can only take comfort in the fact that she hadn't run away yet. She can't believe she has ended up this position. She was just starting to feel happy again after everything that happened with Brody.

She and Santana were doing great. They were still in that honeymoon period and Rachel didn't know how this news was going to affect their relationship. She didn't know if she would keep the baby. The only thing she did know was that an abortion was not an option.

How are supposed to react when your girlfriend of just a few weeks tells you that she's pregnant? Santana didn't know but it wasn't as if this was some girl she met recently this was Rachel. Enemy turned best friend and then girlfriend.

Santana doesn't know what Rachel is going to do. All she knows is that she can't let her go through this alone. She tightens her arms around Rachel pulling her close to her chest.

"Everything's going to be okay. Whatever you decide, we'll get through this together."


	8. Secret

**4. Secret**

His name is Alan Pickard; he's thirty two and a child killer. Rachel had all the information she required; now all she needed was the opportunity.

All she needs is a couple of hours and Alan Pickard would no longer be a problem to society.

Rachel is pulled out of her thoughts when she feels Santana shift in the bed next to her.

Santana was her best friend, her lover and a detective of the New York Police Department.  
It's ironic that Santana's life is dedicated to protect and serve the people of New York, yet every night she goes to bed with a serial killer.

Not that Rachel was the usual type of serial killer. She likes to think of herself more of a vigilante. It was the only way she can justify what she does. It was built into her this need to kill, it was almost primal. She had decided many years ago that since she couldn't control it, then she would use it in a positive way.

Not that everyone would see it that way. Some people see murder as murder no matter what shape or form, people like Santana.

Rachel loved her girlfriend. She was the epitome of perfection to her. She was beautiful, intelligent, brave but most of all she was completely oblivious to the monster she had given her heart to.

Apart from the fact that Rachel was hiding a big secret, their relationship is perfect. That's the main reason Rachel hides a part of herself, because if Santana ever found out, she is convinced she would lose her.

As a detective for the New York Police Department, Santana spends her life putting people like Rachel in prison. Rachel knows that Santana loves her, but she's not sure how she would react if she found out her girlfriend was a killer.

Rachel had been through every scenario in her head; Santana breaking down, Santana arresting her, Santana shooting her, Santana being understanding.

As much as she loved the girl sleeping beside her and as much as she feels she knows her, Rachel just doesn't know how she would react and she hopes she'll never have to find out.

Santana's phone rings. It rings for a few more minutes before she answers it, her voice thick with sleep.

Rachel can only hear Santana's side of the conversation, but she soon feels the bed move as Santana gets out.

"Is everything okay?" Rachel asks.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"It's okay."

Rachel doesn't want to let Santana know that she hadn't been sleeping. She knows that Santana would worry.

"I have to go. There's been a reported homicide and they need me there. I probably won't see you until this afternoon." Santana explains as she gets dressed.

"Go and be a hero."

"If I have time maybe we can have lunch together. I'll call you."

Santana pulls on her jacket and gives herself a quick look in the mirror. Satisfied, she walks over to Rachel who was still lying in bed.

"I love you" she says bending down, giving Rachel a quick kiss.

"I love you too" Rachel replies.

She watches Santana leave the bedroom and checks the clock. It was one o'clock in the morning. There was still plenty of time left.

Rachel had just found her opportunity.


	9. Stranded

**19. Stranded**

Rachel has spent the last half an hour practicing a new song that she wanted to showcase during glee club tomorrow. She liked to practice in the auditorium. She loved being on the stage and tried to practice on it as much as she could so she could get used to preforming  
on such a large scale.

When she is convinced that she had perfected the song, she picks up her bag from the piano bench and leaves the auditorium. The rain had picked up during the time Rachel had spent in the auditorium so she covers her head with a folder as she runs towards her car.

She pulls away from the school parking lot and drives for only a couple of minutes before she spots a figure in a cheerleading uniform standing on the sidewalk. She has a quick inner battle in her mind before she finally decides that she can't leave the girl stranded at the side of the road and will offer her help.

Rachel slows the car down, rolls down her window and calls the girls name to get her attention.

"What do you want Berry?"

"I'm offering you a ride."

"I'm fine, I'll walk."

"It's cold and it's raining and I'm offering to drive you home so stop being stubborn and get in."

Santana opens her mouth as if she wants to argue but she decides against it and gets into Rachel's car.

"Why were you standing in the rain?" Rachel asks.

"My car is in the shop so my dad said he would pick me up, but as I was waiting he text me to tell me he got called into work." Santana explains.

"Why were you still at school?" Rachel asks.

"Cheerleading practice. Coach made us practice in the rain. It was like a scene from The Perfect Storm. What about you?"

"I was practicing a song for glee club. I'm going to ask Mr Schue if I can sing it during tomorrows practice."

"What song is it?"

"You'll just have to wait to find out."

"The anticipation is killing me" Santana mocks.

Rachel can't help the smile that appears on her face. She likes this side of Santana and is almost sad when she pulls up outside of Santana's house.

"Thanks for the ride Berry. I'll see you later."

"Goodbye Santana."

Santana opens the door and exits the car but just as quickly as the door is shut it re-opens again.

"Santana did you forget something?" Rachel asks.

"Yeah, I forgot to ask you if maybe you wanted to catch a movie Friday night. Maybe we can have dinner afterwards."

"Okay. I mean that sounds great. I would love too."

Rachel can't help herself rambling. Santana Lopez, the most beautiful girl in school had just asked her out on a date.

"I'll pick you up at seven."

"Cool. I'll see you later Rachel."

Santana shuts the car door once again leaving Rachel to process what had just happened. She sits in silence for a few seconds listening to the sound of the rain pattering against the car.


	10. Baby

**18. Baby**

"Santana!"

"One minute" Santana yells from the kitchen.

"I need you now San."

"What is it?" Santana asks entering the living room.

"My waters just broke."

"Are you sure? The baby isn't due for another three weeks."

"I'm sure. It looks like our baby is eager to meet us. Will you get the bag?" Rachel asks.

Santana had started to panic as soon as she heard the words waters and broke so she ends up just standing there without attempting to move.

"Santana!"

"What?"

"Will you get the bag? I really think we should get to the hospital" Rachel says.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I'll get it. Stay there."

Santana runs into their bedroom trying to think where she put the hospital bag. She checks the bottom of the wardrobe and under the bed but she can't find it.

"Rach where is the bag?"

"It's in the wardrobe."

"I've look in the wardrobe."

"It's on the shelf at the top."

Santana walks back over to the wardrobe and instantly finds the hospital bag exactly where Rachel said it was. She grabs the bag quickly and runs back into the living room.

"Okay I got it, let's go. Oh crap we need to get a taxi. Where's my phone?"

"It's on the couch and don't worry I already called one."

"You know you're a little too relaxed for someone whose about to push a baby out of them" Santana says.

"I'm sure in a few more hours I will be a screaming mess like most other women."

"Yes and I'm the one that has to sit through all of that" Santana jokes.

"I really am glad that you're here with me and not Brody."

"I told you that we would get through this together and I meant it. As far as I'm concerned donkey face doesn't exist and that baby is yours and mine."

"Well it looks like our baby is eager to meet his mothers" Rachel says as she feels the pain of a contraction.

"I think that's the taxi. Let's get you to the hospital."

It is two days later by the time the new family returns home. Santana suggests that since the baby was asleep that Rachel should get some sleep too. Rachel had slept for almost two hours before she eventually wakes up.

She goes in search of her girlfriend and finds Santana in the kitchen cooking.

"Hey, I've made us some soup for dinner so you can eat whenever you want."

"You're amazing, thank you."

"How about I run you a bath and then we can eat afterwards?"

"That sounds perfect but I can run my own bath."

"You just had a baby who's going to need you to take care of them. So let me take care of you for a while. So why don't you check on our daughter and I'll run the bath."

"Okay, thank you" Rachel says leaning up and pressing a kiss against Santana's lips.

Santana turns the soup down and heads into the bathroom. She turns on the hot water tap, adds a bit of Rachel's favourite bubble bath and lights the candles that her girlfriend likes to keep in the bathroom.

Once the bath is full, Santana turns off the tap and goes to get Rachel. She finds her girlfriend standing over in the bassinet.

"Hey, your bath's ready."

"Do you want to join me?" Rachel asks.

"I would love to but this is about you relaxing and I want to finish dinner."

"Okay maybe next time."

"Definitely" Santana smirks.

Santana watches Rachel leave the room before turning her attention back to the baby who was now wide awake and looking at her.

"Hey Sofia" Santana coos as she picks up the tiny baby.

She sits herself on the bed, her back resting against the head board. She places Sofia on her chest so the little girl's head is against her heart.

Sofia was gorgeous. She looked exactly like her mother. There wasn't hint of Brody in the little girls face and Santana was hoping that there never would be.  
It was just over eight months ago since Santana was lying in bed with Rachel telling her that everything would be okay. The truth was she was scare shitless. She had been, right up until she heard the first cries of the baby in her arms.

She's still not a hundred percent sure she'll be a perfect parent but she knows she'll try to be. Santana would never have imagined that this would be her life, dating Rachel Berry with a new born baby but here she was with said baby cuddling into her chest.

"Te adoro mi pequeñita. A ti y a tu mama. Siempre estare aqui para quererlas y protegerlas a las dos." she whispers before placing a kiss on the baby's head.

Santana had come to New York to find her place in the world and she thinks she might have just found it.

* * *

_A/N Thank you to Beebeeborez for the translation._

_"I love you my little one. You and your mother. I will always be here to love and protect you both."_


	11. Date

**32. Date**

Rachel had been nervous for the past few days. Tonight was the night she was going on her first date with Santana. She was sitting in the same position she was just a few days ago, outside of Santana's house whilst the rain fell onto the windshield.

She takes a deep breath before opening the car door and running towards the cover of Santana's porch. Her hands are shaking as she rings the doorbell, whether it's from nerves or the cold she doesn't know.

It only takes a few minutes before Santana opens the door to find a windswept and slightly wet Rachel.

"I didn't realize that the weather was this bad maybe we should literally take a rain check" Santana suggests.

"We're going to the movies and a little rain never hurt anyone. If anything it could be considered romantic besides, you know me I don't let anything rain on my parade."

"Haha. Very funny, Tiny."

Rachel had heard many names come out of Santana's mouth, but that was by far her favourite.

"So are you going to join me in this blustery yet wonderful evening?" Rachel asks.

"Of course, let me just grab a coat."

* * *

Santana parks her car outside of the Berry house. She had just been on another perfect date with Rachel.

"I'll walk you to the door" Santana says before cutting off the engine.

Rachel attempts to leave the car but Santana stops her.

"Wait there."

Santana grabs an umbrella from her car door before exiting the car. She puts the umbrella up before walking over to the passenger side and opening the door for Rachel.

"My lady."

"How very chivalrous of you" Rachel laughs.

She takes the hand that Santana is offering her as they walk towards Rachel's front door under the umbrella together.

"Once again thank you for another great date Santana" Rachel says leaning in and pressing a kiss against Santana's cheek.

Rachel's lips linger on the soft skin of Santana's cheek for longer than Santana expects. When she finally does slowly pull away her face hovers close to Santana's for a moment. They share a shy smile before they both lean in and share their first kiss.

Santana drops the umbrella she was holding so she is able to wrap her arms around Rachel's waist, drawing her closer against her body. Rachel's arms instinctively find their way around Santana's neck, her fingers running through her hair.

Santana can feel the rain bounce against her skin but she doesn't care. All she can think about in this moment is Rachel and how good Rachel's lips feel against hers.

Eventually they pull away from each other. Rachel opens her eyes to find Santana with a big smile on her face.

"I've wanted to do that for a while" Santana admits.

"Me too. San?"

"Yeah Tiny?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Rachel asks.

"Of course I will."

* * *

They're walking hand in hand under the umbrella Santana had bought Rachel as a present. She had bought it especially for their dates since they always seemed to be marred by rain. It took her hours of searching on the internet, but eventually she managed to find a 'Don't Rain On My Parade' umbrella.

They make their way up the footpath to Rachel's house, they say their goodbyes and share a kiss on the doorstep.

As Santana turns to leave Rachel calls her back.

"Tana, wait."

"What's wrong babe?"

Rachel looks up and sees the concern in those eyes that could melt her heart.

"I've fallen in love with you."

Rachel nervously bites her lower lip as she waits for Santana's response. There more seconds that pass the more nervous Rachel becomes. She tries to avoid looking at Santana and instead concentrates on a patch of floor beneath her feet.

What if Rachel had admitted her feelings too soon? They had been dating for a year, but with no response from her girlfriend Rachel has almost convinced herself that Santana is thinking of a way to explain that she doesn't feel the same. She wasn't expecting it when she feels the smooth skin of Santana's fingers slowly lifting her chin and soft lips cover hers.

Santana pulls back and rests her forehead against Rachel's, her hand moving to cup Rachel's face.

"I love you too, Rachel Berry."


	12. Wish

**43. Wish**

Brittany loves her best friend and she knows that she loves her too but sometimes she thinks that Santana can be too over protective. Brittany knows that she's not the brightest crayon in the box, but sometimes she wishes Santana would tell her the truth.

That's why when her mother asked her to make her a birthday wish before she blew out her candles, she wished that Santana couldn't tell a lie for twenty four hours.

Brittany knew that her wish had come true the next day when she had asked Santana if Santa Clause really did exist and the Latina had replied with a simple "No".

Brittany had enjoyed asking Santana questions all morning and finally finding out the truth about many things Santana had previously lied about. Brittany also enjoyed the faces Santana made when she was trying to hold an answer in or when she said something that she really didn't mean too.

The Unholy Trinity were gathered around Brittany and Santana's locker doing a quick make up check when Rachel walked past on her way to her own locker.

"What the hell is Manhands wearing today?" Quinn scoffs.

"I agree the argyle has to go but I like the skirts. They show off her legs and she has really nice legs."

The words were out of Santana's mouth before she could stop them.

"Did you just admit to checking out Berry?" Quinn asks.

"Yes, I do it all the time."

This time Santana slaps a hand over her mouth to stop herself from revealing any more.

"I need to go before I tell you anything else I don't want you to know"

"What is her problem?"

"I don't know but I need to go too. See you later Q" Brittany replies before chasing after Santana.

"Santana wait up. I need to talk to you. I know why you keep telling the truth."

Santana stops walking and turns towards her best friend.

"I don't understand."

"You're my best friend, but sometimes you lie to me and I know you're trying to protect me but I wanted to know the truth. So yesterday when I blew out my birthday candles I wished that you couldn't lie" Brittany explains.

"Brittany that isn't possible. I've told you before wishes don't come true."

"Do you want to date Rachel?"

"Yes. Damn it Brittany!"

"I'm sorry. I might have not thought it through properly" Brittany frowns.

"How long is it going to last. I can't let people find out about me."

"I only wished you wouldn't lie for a twenty four hours."

"When did you make this wish?" Santana asks.

"When I blew out my birthday candles" Brittany replies.

"Okay so I just have to make it until four without revealing anything which means I definitely have to stay away from Berry."

Santana didn't want to blame Brittany. She knows that her best friend didn't mean any harm when she made the wish. She just wished that Brittany hadn't made it on a school day. Her mouth had already gotten her into trouble this morning.

Every single cheerleader's jaw dropped when she told Sue what she really thought about her and her unorthodox teaching methods. She had to endure five laps around the football field for that slip of the tongue and she's still not convinced that will be her only punishment.

Other than keeping her eye out for coach Sylvester for the rest of the day she had also had run-ins with teachers and students throughout the day. She didn't care about some of the things she had said to some students, after all it was the truth and she probably would have said it regardless of Brittany's wish.

As much as Santana tried she hadn't be able to avoid Rachel all day. She had complimented Rachel's intelligence when they were paired up on a science experiment and she had even told Rachel that she looked good in her gym clothes. She was just appreciative that she managed to rein the compliments in so that they could be deemed friendly and nothing else.

All she had to do now was make it through glee and then the wish would be over. As she walked into the choir room, she got a couple of stares from the glee club, including Mr. Schue. This was probably due to the fact that she had told him that his Spanish was just as bad as his sense of style during his class.

Santana almost made it to the end of glee unscathed that was until Mr Schue had told the glee club that for the next competition Sam and Quinn would be taking the duet. It was expected that Rachel would be against the idea but nobody expected Santana to agree with her.

"I just think that with Rachel signing we would have a better chance at winning" Santana announces.

"I don't know what you're complaining about, you got the solo" Mercedes says.

"I'll give up my solo for Rachel."

Even Santana was shocked at that revelation. She never thought that she would give up the chance to be in the spotlight but it turns out for Rachel she would. She starts to feel uncomfortable under the intense stares from the glee club.

"You're making me feel uncomfortable so I'm going to leave."

Santana grabs her bag and heads to the door ignoring Mr. Schue who shouts that glee isn't over yet. She didn't care she just wanted to go home, but first she had to grab a couple of books she had left in her locker.

When Santana slams her locker door shut she's met with the face of Rachel Berry.

"What do you want?"

"I was just interested in knowing why you defended me in there" Rachel replies.

"I like when you sing and I stand by what I said in the choir room. I think without you we lessen our chances of winning."

"Is this joke? Are you messing with me?"

"I've never been so truthful in my life" Santana replies.

"Okay then since you're being truthful, why have you been so complimentary to me today?"

"You want the truth?" Santana asks.

"Yes."

"I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you since we first won at sectionals. I don't expect you to say anything."

"It's only right that I be honest with you since you were so honest with me. I'm not going to tell you that I'm in love with you, especially with our past, but I think that if I get to know this Santana you showed me today then I think one day I possibly could."

Santana can't help the big smile that appears on her face that is until she realizes something.

"Wait, why aren't you in glee club?"

"It finished" Rachel replies.

"What time is it?"

"Six minutes past four, why?"

"I've been able to lie for the past six minutes which means that it wasn't the wish that admitted my feelings it was me."

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Are you okay?" Rachel asks with slight concern in her voice.

"I'm great."

When Brittany made the wish to allow her best friend to tell the truth for twenty four hours, she did it so that Santana would be truthful to her but by making that wish she also allowed Santana to be truthful to herself.


	13. Tease

**3. Tease**

Santana doesn't take much notice of Finn as he walks past her with a huge grin on his face. She only notices him when she takes a quick look over at her girlfriend's locker and finds him stood next to Rachel.  
Thankfully her locker wasn't that far away and could hear the conversation between the two.

"So I was thinking that maybe we could go to Breadstix on Friday night."

"I'm sorry Finn, but I'm not interested."

Finn moves a bit closer to Rachel just enough so he can rest a hand on one of her arms.

"Come on Rachel, you know we make sense."

Santana slams her locker shut and makes her way over to the pair.

"Hey Shamu why don't you go back to SeaWorld and let the hobbit get back to the shire."

"There's no need to be mean Santana" Finn says.

"Oh I'm sorry. I'm just worried about Snow White and how she'll react if the Jolly Green Giant squashes one of her dwarfs. Which one are you? Nosey?"

"Santana!"

Santana looks up to see Quinn calling her over from the end of the hallway. Santana walks away from Finn and Rachel not realizing she'd upset her girlfriend.

After the incident in the hallway, Rachel finds solace in the auditorium. She had been dating Santana for over a year now and they had still to go public about their relationship.  
As if on cue Santana enters the auditorium.

"You need to stop leading Finn on."

"Hello Santana, how are you this morning?"

"I'm being serious Rachel. I don't like seeing him over you like that."

"It's not Finn's fault. As far as he's aware I'm single."

"Oh so just because I'm not ready to come out it means you can flirt with other people."

"I was not flirting. I rejected his offer of a date and for the record in the past I have been nothing but patient with you."

"What do you mean in the past?"

"I just think we have been together long enough now for you to acknowledge your relationship with me. I love you but it hurts when you don't acknowledge me in the hallway. You know you really hurt my feelings with what you said before. I tolerated the mild teasing but what you said before was taking things too far."

"I didn't mean it I was just angry with Finn."

"If our relationship is to progress then we need to come out" Rachel says.

"What are you saying? If I don't come out then we are over?"

"That's not what I'm saying. I just think the longer we hide, it will hurt our relationship. Now if you don't mind I want to be alone."

Rachel exits the auditorium and heads straight for her car with Santana following behind her.

"Rachel can we talk about this properly?" Santana shouts after Rachel.

"I'm sorry Santana."

Rachel opens the door and enters the car without another word. Santana stands in the middle of the car park with the rain pouring around her as she watches Rachel drive away.

* * *

Rachel hadn't spoken to Santana since yesterday and the first time Santana sees her girlfriend is at lunch in the cafeteria.

Santana was sat with the rest of the cheerleaders who were discussing what was going to happen at practice this afternoon since it was raining again. Santana wasn't really paying attention her focus was solely on Rachel who was sat with some of the glee club members across the room.

She makes a quick effort to interact with the cheerleaders by throwing in some random comment so they don't notice her attentions elsewhere.

When her eyes find Rachel again she notices that there was somebody new at her girlfriends table. Finn had joined the table sitting as close to Rachel as he possible could. He leans in close and says something to Rachel and whatever it is, it causes her to laugh.

She watches as Rachel playfully slaps him on the arm and then for a moment their eyes connect. It only last for a few moments before Finn catches Rachel's attention again.

The storm outside is like a physical representation of Santana's emotions. Each clap of thunder conveying her anger building within.

When she hears Rachel laugh again, it's like something snaps within her and before she knows it she's on her feet, trudging over towards Finn.

"You need to move" she tells him.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I don't want you near Rachel."

"Why? What's it to you?" Finn asks.

"I don't like you being all up on my girlfriend."

"Wait your what?"

"That's right. Rachel's my girlfriend. I love her and she loves me, which means you need to back off."

"This is some kind of joke right?"

Finn turns to Rachel who has had a smile plastered on her face ever since Santana publicly admitted their relationship.

"I'm sorry Finn. What Santana is saying is true" Rachel tells him standing up.

Santana moves closer to Rachel and envelops her in a hug.

"I'm sorry" she whispers into Rachel's ear before pulling her into a kiss.

They kiss for longer than either of them expects and when they finally pull apart they find the whole of the cafeteria staring at them.

"Does anyone have a problem?" Santana yells.

She waits for a couple of seconds but gets no reply.

"Good. Now carry on as you were."

The room suddenly fills with people talking and the sound of cutlery clinking together. Rachel sits back in her seat while Santana takes the seat next to her, their hands connected together.


	14. Glee

**1. Glee**

"Okay guys let's take it from the top and Santana please put a bit more enthusiasm into it this time" Mr Schue says.

"We're singing another Journey song. How enthused can I be?"

"Santana please just put some effort into it and do the routine."

"Excuse me. Ever since I joined this club I have put everything into it but you always want more from me. You know what I wish I never this stupid club. I'm out."

Santana abandons her position in the routine and leaves the auditorium.

When Santana wakes the next morning she is surprised to find that she hadn't received a text from Rachel. Every morning she would get a text from her girlfriend wishing her a good morning just like every night she would get one before she went to bed.

She quickly showers and changes into her cheerleading uniform. She picks up her cell phone and decides to call Rachel to make sure she still wants picking up for school. She scrolls through her contacts but can't find Rachel's name.

Santana quickly says goodbye to her parents, gets into her car and drives to Rachel's house. When she arrives Rachel's car isn't parked outside. That could only mean one thing, Rachel had driven herself to school.

It only takes her ten minutes to get to school. As soon as she arrives Santana heads straight for Rachel's locker but before she can get there she is intercepted by Puck.

"You still coming over to my house tonight?" he asks.

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on it's Friday, you and I always hook up on a Friday night"

"Very funny Puckerman. Now have you seen Rachel?" Santana asks.

"Rachel who?"

"What the hell is wrong with you today? I obviously mean Rachel as in Rachel Berry."

"Oh, I don't know but if you want to send her a slushy facial I think Karofsky already beat you to it" Puck says.

"What? Why didn't you stop him?" Santana yells pushing past Puck so she can continue her search for her girlfriend.

She eventually finds Rachel in the bathroom near the science room.

"There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere" Santana says walking over to Rachel and taking the paper towel out of her hand.

She attempts to wipe away some of the purple ice on the other girl's face but Rachel moves away.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help you get cleaned up and then I'm going kick Karofsky's **" Santana replies.

"Is this a joke?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're offering to help me yet usually you're the one tossing the slushy in my face" Rachel  
says.

"That's not funny. You and I decided to leave the past behind us when we started dating so I don't know why you're bringing it up again."

"That is seriously not funny Santana. I don't know why you would say something like that and I don't know how it would be an advantage to you but please can I just be alone to clean myself up."

"Have I woken up in some sort of crazy world this morning? What's going on with everybody today?" Santana asks.

"Rachel are you okay? We heard what happened" Kurt says as he enters the bathroom with Mercedes behind him.

"She's fine, now can you leave us alone" Santana replies.

"You've done enough damage for one day Santana, I think you should leave" Mercedes says.

"I wasn't the one that slushied her. Please Rachel just talk to me."

"Please leave me alone Santana" Rachel says.

Santana leaves the bathroom as confused as ever. She was seriously beginning to think she had woken up in some sort of alternate universe. She didn't know what to do with herself so she goes to the only places she know will be empty.

When she walks into the choir room she finds it completely different. There was no chair and no piano, the main feature in the room was the large trophy case filled with cheerleading trophies.

She hears the door open and Quinn walks in holding some cheerleading folders.

"Hey S."

"Hey Quinn. Have you seen Mr Schue?" Santana asks.

"Mr Schue? Oh you mean that old Spanish teacher? Coach got him fired, remember after she destroyed his attempt to create a glee club."

"Wait so there's no Mr Schue and no glee club?If there's no glee club then that means no nationals and no Rachel."

"Are you feeling okay?" Quinn asks.

"Yeah I'm fine. Sorry Q I need to go."

Santana runs out of the choir room and heads straight to the auditorium where she finds Rachel on the stage.

"I knew you'd be here."

"How did you know where to find me?" Rachel asks.

"You always come here when you want to be alone. You always said you felt most at home on a stage. I know you Rachel, in fact I love you."

"I find what you're saying really hard to comprehend" Rachel says.

"You mean you find it hard to believe that you're my girlfriend?"

"It's just that you're Santana Lopez head cheerleader and I'm just Rachel Berry. I didn't even know you were a lesbian."

"I came out with a lot of help from the glee club. Then you and I got together when we went to New York for Nationals" Santana explains.

"I've never been to New York before."

"You loved it there. We were supposed to be writing songs but you wanted to see New York properly and I caught you trying to sneak out. You begged me not to tell Mr Schue and asked me to come along with you. I thought it would be better than sitting in the hotel room so I joined you and we had a really good time. We lost Nationals and I found you crying in the hotel room so I tried to cheer you up and we ended up kissing. I asked you out once we got back to Lima and we have been dating ever since."

"It's funny because you have all these memories of us together and the only memories I have of you is all the times you've yelled some form of insult at me or tossed a slushy in my face."

"Maybe things started out like that but it all changed when we joined glee club. I really don't know what's going on. Yesterday we went to Breadstixs for dinner and then I dropped you off at home. But when I woke up this morning everything was different" Santana says.

"Well what happened at Breadstix? Did we argue or something?"

"No you took me there to cheer me up after I walked out of glee club."

"Why did you walk out of glee club?" Rachel asks.

"Mr Schue was questioning my commitment and I told him that I wished I'd never joined the glee club. That's it! I said I wish I hadn't joined glee club so I woke up in a world where I hadn't. Without me and the cheerleaders glee wouldn't have enough members and wouldn't have been able to compete meaning no glee club."

"And without glee club there would be no us" Rachel says.

Santana spent the rest of the day like any normal day. She went to her classes and cheerleading practise all the while learning the differences between a world with and without glee club.

By the time she makes it home and is ready to go to sleep, she is fully convinced that joining the glee club was the best decision she ever made. Her experience today had taught her that without glee she would still be hiding her sexuality by sleeping with Puck. She would never have found out what an amazing person Rachel is and would never have had the confidence to ask her out.

Yes, joining glee club was the best decision Santana had ever made.

The next morning when Santana wakes up, she quickly gets ready and heads straight to Rachel's house.

She knocks on the door and a few moments later Rachel is standing in front of her.

"Please tell me that you're my girlfriend" Santana says.

"Of course I'm your girlfriend Santana. Is everything okay?"

Santana launches at Rachel and smothers her in a hug.

"I love you so much and I never want you to go away."

"Well I wasn't planning on it and I love you too Santana. I think you should let go now it's starting to hurt."

"Sorry" Santana says sheepishly as she lets go of her girlfriend.

"So are you coming back to glee club today?" Rachel asks.

"Yeah, I was wrong yesterday and I really meant what I said when I said glee was the best part of my day."


	15. Nervous

**50. Nervous**

Santana holds tightly onto Rachel's hand as they walk through the airport. Rachel had been working on a play that had been given a run on the West End in London. It was to star the original Broadway cast which means Rachel would have to move to London during its run.  
Rachel's contract was for five months and because of Santana's work commitment she was going alone.

They knew it was going to be hard to leave each other. They hadn't been apart since they started dating in high school.

"I'll call and text you every day" Rachel says.

"Don't forget about skype. I need to see that beautiful face of yours."

Santana wraps he arms around her girlfriend and holds her as tightly as she can. She knows that this will be the last time she'll hold Rachel for five months so she wants to make the most of it.

They share a couple of sweet kisses before Rachel has to leave. After one more kiss, she lets go of Santana and turns to walk away.

"Marry me" Santana shouts.

Rachel stops dead in her tracks before turning round to face her girlfriend.

"What?"

"Marry me" Santana repeats.

"You want to marry me? I'm going to London."

"I don't mean now. I meant when you get back. I know I don't have a ring but that doesn't mean I'm any less serious."

Rachel is silent which causes Santana to get nervous. She notices that there are a couple of other passengers looking at them like they're curious to find out Rachel's answer too.

The silence is interrupted by a woman's voice coming over the speaker.

"This is a passenger announcement. Due to the bad weather conditions flight 723 to London Heathrow has been cancelled until further notice."

"Yes" Rachel says.

"What?"

"Yes. I'll marry you" Rachel repeats.

She drops her carry-on bag on the floor and runs over to Santana who catches her in a hug. Santana grabs her fiancée's face and pulls her into a bruising kiss. They hear the sound of clapping and cheering as the passengers around them join in with their celebrations.

* * *

"I can't believe this is happening to me on my wedding day" Rachel says pacing the room.

"Relax Rachel it's only a little rain."

"A little rain wouldn't be a problem Kurt if my wedding wasn't outside!"

"Don't worry, we planned for this. There is a team of hunky men putting up the tent as we speak" Kurt replies.

"Once the tent is up, they're going to set out the chairs and create you an aisle. The florist is already here and has been informed of the changes. After the wedding is over you'll come back to your rooms and then they're going to set up tables in the tent for the after party. Everything is fine Rachel" Mercedes says.

"I don't know, maybe we should postpone. Isn't it like an omen to rain in your wedding day? Maybe it's a sign that we shouldn't do this today." Rachel rambles.

"Rachel, sweetie you need to calm down."

"Maybe we should get Santana" Mercedes suggests.

"I can handle it" Kurt says.

"Rachel this isn't like you. Where is the confidant diva that would never let anything ruin a performance?"

"I'm only human Kurt. My wedding day is being ruined I have a right to be upset" Rachel snaps.

"Get Santana. Get Santana now" Kurt whispers quickly to Mercedes.

Mercedes slips out of the room unnoticed by Rachel who was still ranting about rain and omens.

"Mercedes has gone to get Santana. Just talk to her and you'll see this isn't a big deal" Kurt says.

"Kurt! I can't see Santana, it is bad luck. As if rain wasn't bad enough now you're trying to purposely jinx me."

"I just thought that if anyone can calm you down it will be her and don't worry about that stupid superstition. You and Santana are destined to be together seeing her before the wedding won't change that" Kurt assures her.

There's a quick knock on the door before it slowly opens.

"Tiny, are you in there?"

When Santana walks into the room she sees Kurt standing there and the bathroom door shut quickly.

"Is she okay?" Santana asks.

"She thinks it's bad luck to see you before the wedding" Kurt replies.

"Would you give us a moment?"

"Sure. I'll go and check on the preparations."

"Thanks Kurt."

Santana walks over to the bathroom door and gently knocks on the wood.

"You hiding from me Tiny?"

"I didn't want any more bad luck after the thunderstorm out there" Rachel explains.

"You want to postpone our wedding because of a little bit of rain?"

"The weather is horrendous and it's changed our plans. I spent a whole year planning this wedding and I wanted it to be perfect."

"Everything will be perfect and do you know why? It's because I'm marrying the girl of my dreams and I'm not going to let anything stop me. What's wrong with a little rain anyway, I strictly remember you telling me on our first date that it's romantic."

Rachel wipes away the tear that had escaped down her cheek at Santana's words and smiles as she remembers those words she told Santana on their first date.

"I love you so much Tana and I can't wait to marry you. I'll see you outside. I'll be the one in white walking down the aisle with a smile on my face ready to become Mrs Rachel Berry-Lopez."

"I love you too and just know I'll be the one at the end of the aisle waiting to make you Mrs Rachel Berry-Lopez."


	16. Millionaire

**10. Millionaire**

It was a dark and dingy place. The type of place Santana would usually avoid at all cost, however she did come here. She came for one reason and one reason only and that reason was stood singing on the stage.

Her name is Rachel Berry and she's the main attraction at the Midnight Lounge.

Santana had asked around and had found out that Rachel Berry was in fact Rachel Hudson and was married to the owner Finn Hudson.

She only ended up in the Midnight Lounge by pure coincidence. She wanted some peace and quiet, so she decided to take a walk and happened to come across the desolated lounge.

Santana sips on her drink, her eyes fixated on Rachel. She had an idea the sixth night she spent watching Rachel on that stage. Her eyes leave Rachel and find Finn behind the bar. It's time to make her move.

"Finn Hudson, I'm Santana Lopez. I would like to talk to you in private."

"Sure, come through to the back and we can talk there."

Santana walks around the bar and follows Finn to the back where it's much quieter. Finn sits down at the small table in the room and offers Santana a seat.

"So Miss Lopez, what can I do for you?" Finn asks.

"Actually I'm here to make you a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"I will pay you one million dollars for one night with your wife" Santana says.

"Are you being serious?"

"You've heard of me right? I own Lopez Industries, so you know I have the money."

"I wasn't questioning if you had the money. I was surprise you would ask a man to sleep with his wife" Finn replies.

"I'm the type of person to see what I want and go for it" Santana states.

"You do realise it's a big thing you're asking. Rachel and I have been married for six years."

"Then what's one night compared to six years?"

"It would be like she's cheating on me" Finn replies.

"You would know about it up front, it's not like she's going behind your back and at least I came to you first. Imagine what you could do with that money. You could make Rachel's life better. You could improve this crappy lounge, buy her a big house and even buy her studio time so she can create an album."

"This would be a no strings attached type of thing. You have Rachel for a night and then I get a million dollars?"

"It's just that easy. Think about it. I'll be back tomorrow."

Santana stands from the table and makes her way to the door but before she can open it, Rachel enters the room. Santana sends Rachel a smile before exiting the room.

"Who was that?" Rachel asks.

"Santana Lopez."

"What did she want?"

"She wanted to make a deal with me. She said she would give me one million dollars for one night with you."

"What? How dare she come in here and asks you that, we're a happily married couple does she not have any morals?"

"She seemed really serious about it."

"You're not considering this are you, you told her no right?" Rachel asks.

"I didn't have the chance to tell her an answer. She just told me to think about it and left."

"Well there is nothing to think about. This is my decision and there is no way I would agree to it and you should be saying the same thing."

"I know. I'm sorry okay but a million dollars is a lot of money. Imagine what we can do with that amount of money."

"So you wouldn't mind me prostituting myself out to a stranger so you could have a million dollars?" Rachel asks.

"It would only be for one night."

"I can't believe you right now." Rachel shouts.

"There is no discussion. I'm not spending the night Santana Lopez. I'm going home now because I'm angry at you."

"I'm sorry Rachel, I wasn't really considering it" Finn calls out but receives the door slamming shut in response.

When Santana arrives the Midnight Lounge the next day she is greeted by an angry Rachel and a slap to the face.

"Feisty, I like that in a woman."

"You think you can just buy me like some cheap whore?" Rachel seethes.

"Baby I offered him a million dollars I don't think that's cheap."

"You're intolerable and I don't even know you."

"For a million dollars you can get to know me very well" Santana replies.

"Do you really think that I have no self-respect and would take an offer like that?"

"I don't think you would but I think your husband might. I don't see the problem you get a million dollars and the best night of your life."

"You're being very disrespectful and your offer is derogatory" Rachel says.

"You really talented you know. I came across this place two weeks ago and saw you singing on the stage. I've come back every night to hear that beautiful voice of yours. I know your married and I missed my proper chance if I ever had one but I thought that at least I could get one night with you."

"You could have just asked. I would have said no but why would you offer to pay me?"

"Money is all I know. It's how I get what I want and it's the main reason people like me. I thought with the temptation of money you were more likely to say yes."

"You know you shouldn't sell yourself short. I bet underneath all of the bravado you're a nice person."

"Well I gave you a chance to see what's underneath" Santana smirks.

"I see you're also incorrigible" Rachel laughs.

"I should go. I came to find out your decision but I think I knew what it was as soon as you slapped me."

"I apologise for that, my emotions took over" Rachel says.

"You don't have to apologise."

Santana puts her hand in her pocket and pulls out her business card. She leans on the bar and writes something on the back.

"That's my address. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

She hands Rachel the card making sure to brush her fingers over Rachel's hand before turning around and leaving.

It had been three days since Santana had last been in the Midnight Lounge. She was toying with the idea to sneak in during Rachel's performance tonight just so she can see and hear the girl sing one more time.

She turns on the stereo and allows the music to float through her penthouse apartment. She's taking it easy today, an advantage you have when you're a millionaire. She hadn't even bothered getting dressed properly either and spent most of the day wearing a white tank top and black boy shorts.

Santana walks into her kitchen and grabs a glass out of the cupboard and a bottle of vodka out of the freezer. She pours herself a drink and takes a sip just as she hears her buzzer over the music.

She places her glass back on the kitchen counter and makes her way to the door. She takes a quick look at the screen on her intercom and smirks. When she opens the door she finds Rachel standing there.

"I knew you'd come to me eventually."


	17. Rain

**9. Rain**

"Which shoes do you want?" Santana asks.

"I couldn't give a damn which footwear you choose, I'll go barefoot for all I care. Just get me to the damn hospital."

"Sorry babe."

Santana continues to shove random things into a duffel bag not really sure what she's looking for anymore.

Rachel holds her stomach as another contraction ripples through. She's watching out of the large window in their apartment as the rain pours onto the road and decides to seek comfort on the couch as she waits for her wife.

"Honey, did you call the car company?" The weather is getting worse and it's going to affect the traffic" Rachel calls out.

Another contractions runs through Rachel's stomach, the pain slowly getting more intense.

"Ugh. Why is it always fucking raining?"

Hearing her wife use a rare curse word Santana quickly makes her way into the living room.

"Don't worry. I called them when you had your first contraction. They'll be here soon, you're doing great baby."

A couple of minutes later they hear a car horn from outside.

"It's about damn time" Rachel says.

"Okay here we go" Santana says wrapping an arm around Rachel and helping her off the couch.

"Let's go meet our baby."

It takes them half an hour to get to the hospital. Rachel spent the whole drive screaming in agony mixed with curse words about the rain and the traffic. Santana heard words come out of Rachel's mouth that she didn't even know her wife knew.

When they arrive at the hospital it takes another four hours of labour before Rachel is taken to a delivery room and Santana is taken by a nurse to get scrubbed up.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asks.

"Nervous and I'm not even the one having the baby."

"Your wife will be fine and soon enough you'll have a little baby in your arms."

When Santana enters the delivery room she's instantly met with the screams of her wife.

She quickly moves over to Rachel's side and grabs her hand. Rachel squeezes her hand back a little too hard for Santana's liking but there was no way she was going to mention it so she just smiles through the pain.

Santana's heart beats so hard when she hears the first sign of crying that she thinks it's going to break her chest. Rachel slumps down in the bed next to her but her eyes are glued on the doctor holding the tiny person in his arms.

"Would you like you cut the cord Mommy?" the nurse from earlier asks.

Santana takes the pair of scissors from the nurse and cuts the umbilical cord. The nurse takes the baby away and brings her back a few minutes later wrapped in a blanket. She hands the tiny bundle over to Santana who walks over to Rachel.

"Rachel, our daughter would like to meet you."

Santana places a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead before carefully placing her in Rachel's arms.

"She's so small" Rachel smiles.

"You did great baby. Thank you for bringing her into this world."

"Ladies we're going to take the little one here to get checked over and we can let Mommy get cleaned up too. Don't worry you'll be back together soon enough" a nurse says.

Rachel kisses her daughter's dark covered head and allows the nurse to take her.

When Rachel wakes up a couple of hours later she finds that she's in a hospital room surrounded by curtains. She turns her head towards the side to find her wife sat in a chair with their daughter in her arms.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Santana asks.

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck" Rachel laughs.

"Can I do anything for you? How about a cuddle with the baby? That will make you feel better."

Santana stands from the chair and places her daughter in her wife's arms.

"Hi baby" Rachel coos.

"You know, we really should come up with a name for her" Santana says.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Not really" Santana replies.

They sit in silence for a few minutes both trying to think of the perfect name for their child. Santana looks at her daughter for some inspiration before looking back at her wife who she finds smiling.

"What?"

"What about Rain?" Rachel suggests.

"Rain?"

"I was trying to think of something special, that has meaning and I thought that since rain was kind of our think that it might be suitable" Rachel explains.

"What do you mean rain is kind of our thing?"

"Well it rained on our first date and the first time we said I love you. It rained on our wedding day. It was raining when I went into labour and if you look out of the window I'm pretty sure it's still raining right now."

"Rain Berry-Lopez. I like it" Santana smiles.

Rain lets out a little grunt as if she's showing approval of her parent's choice of name.

"It seems she likes it too" Rachel laughs.

Santana smiles as she leans into her wife and softly kisses her.

"I love you, Tiny."

Santana looks towards the little bundle in Rachel's arms. She places a gentle kiss on the top of her daughter's tuft of dark hair.

"And I love you too Rain."


	18. Game

**41. Game**

Rachel has a feeling that she was being followed. It was a feeling that she had been having for the past few days, but after she talked to her wife about it she brushed it off as paranoia.

She was sure that she had seen the car behind her before, just this morning in fact when she was pulling out of Starbucks.

She lets her eyes leave the road just for a second as she looks in her rear view mirror to look at the car behind her. It definitely looks similar to the one she saw this morning, but Santana is probably right, it's just paranoia.

The car follows her for another ten minutes until it carries on when she turns left into the underground parking lot of their apartment block.

She parks in her usual space and gets out of the car. She opens the back door and smiles at her five year old son sitting in his car seat.

"Shall we go and see if Mami has finished early today?" Rachel asks as she unfastens her son out of the seat.

"Mommy, wanna go down."

Rachel places her son on the floor and watches as he runs over to the elevator attempting to push the button, but he's just too small to reach.

Rachel laughs as she lifts her son those extra inches so he can reach the button before placing him back down on the floor and taking his hand.

As soon as they enter the apartment Oscar runs towards his sleeping mother on the couch and climbs on top of her. The feeling of something heavy on her chest stirs Santana from her sleep and when she opens her eyes she greeted by the smiling face of her son.

"Hi Mami."

"I'm sorry honey. I would have made him be quiet if I'd have known you were sleeping" Rachel says.

"Don't worry. I love being woken up with cuddles from our son. Did you have a good day at kindergarten Mijo?" Santana asks.

"I drawed a picture of you, mommy and me."

"You drew a picture honey not drawed. It's actually quite impressive" Rachel says before handing her wife said picture.

Santana smiles at the three sloppily drawn stick figures on the piece of paper.

"I think this deserves pride place on the fridge" Santana grins.

She picks up her son from her chest, settles him on the couch and puts one of his favorite shows on the television. She walks into the bedroom to find her wife getting changed.

"You're agent called. She wanted to know about an unscheduled photo shoot you took part in" Santana says.

"I haven't done a photo shoot recently."

"She said she saw some of the photos on a fan blog. She said she'd email you the web address" Santana explains.

"Pass me your laptop."

Santana grabs her laptop from the dressing table and passes her it over to her wife. Rachel quickly logs onto her email account and finds the email from her agent and clicks the link attached.

As soon as the page for the blog appears on the screen Santana can't help but scoff.

"Juicy Berry Information? Really?"

The first picture they come across was of Rachel leaving Starbucks that morning. It was underneath the title _'Spotted!_' followed by a small sentence.

_'Rachel Berry seen leaving Starbucks with her favorite vanilla soy latte in hand.'_

"Well that's normal you've been followed by paparazzi before" Santana says.

Rachel scrolls down the page a bit more because she knows that can't be the photo her agent is talking about.

The next photo she comes across is a close up of her face while she laughing.

"That's actually a nice photo" Santana comments.

Rachel agrees it is a nice photo but since it was a close up she can't find any clues as to when or where the photo might have been taken. The next few photos are the same and as good as they are she doesn't remember them being taken.

"Someone took these without me knowing."

"It will be the paparazzi or a fan or something. It is a blog dedicated to you" Santana says.

"It's just weird that someone might be watching me. You know I saw that car again today, I even saw it outside of Starbucks this morning."

"You see it was probably some pap trying to get an exclusive. If you're still bothered by it in a couple of days we'll look into it, okay?"

"Okay. I'll get started on dinner, Oscar will be hungry soon" Rachel replies.

* * *

Rachel had but her paranoia over the photos away for the past two days, but when she leaves the theatre and spots the same car across the street it all comes rushing back.  
The driver of the car must notice that she has seen them because a second later the car drives away. She doesn't know what makes her do it, but as soon as she arrives home she logs onto the computer and pulls up the Juicy Berry blog.

There's a new photo entry from just five minutes ago. It's a photo of her coming out of the door of the theatre.

_'Spotted!'_

_'Rachel Berry leaves the Gershwin Theatre after rehearsals for her upcoming show Wicked.'_

That confirms it. She now knows that the car that has been following her is the same person that has been blogging about her. She would have to discuss this new discovery with her wife when she gets home.

Rachel decided to wait until she had fed, bathed and put her son to sleep before she informs her wife of the new development. When she walks into their bedroom she finds Santana sat on the bed with her laptop propped up on her lap.

"Pull up the Berry blog, there's something else I want you to see."

"That's pretty sexy. You never told me you did a lingerie shoot" Santana smirks.

"What? I haven't."

Santana turns the computer around so Rachel can see the photo.

"Oh my god! Do you remember last week when your parents took Oscar for the weekend?" Rachel asks.

"Of course I do, when I came home you surprised me with that really sexy…okay I see where you're going."

"I was in this apartment when that photo was taken. Whoever this person is, they're watching me."

"So if you didn't know about these photos then what did you want me to see?" Santana asks.

"I saw that car outside the outside of the theatre when I left and then I come home and find a photo of me leaving the theatre. I now know the person in the car also runs this blog."

"They're probably some over enthusiastic fan" Santana says.

"I don't care who they are, they have taken photographs of me when I'm in the privacy of my own home. That's not okay."

"I'll talk to my lawyer tomorrow and see if we can get the photographs removed and if more photographs appear or you feel like you're still being followed then we'll call the police."

"Thank you. Did you just save those lingerie photos?"

"What? They're evidence" Santana argues.

"Sure they are."

* * *

The next day when Rachel arrives home all she wants to do is relax. It had been an intense rehearsal today and the stress of yesterday was still affecting her.  
Oscar runs straight into his room and starts pulling out all of his toys. Since Rachel knows that her son will be occupied for a while she decides to have a quick nap. Rehearsals had been picking up since it was getting closer to her opening night.

When she walks into the bedroom she instantly notices the closet door being slightly open. It was one thing that really annoyed her, why couldn't Santana just shut the door properly. Shaking her head Rachel shuts the door before lying on the bed.

She wakes up an hour later when she feels an arm wrap around her waist and a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey."

"Hey baby" Santana replies.

"Where's Oscar?" Rachel asks.

"He is in his room colouring."

Rachel is about to turn around to face her wife until she notices something.

"Have you moved the photo from the dressing table?" she asks.

"I haven't moved anything."

"Are you sure? It's the one of me, you and Oscar your mom took at Christmas."

"I haven't touched it" Santana replies.

"It's missing" Rachel says getting off the bed.

She walks over to the dressing table. She knows that Oscar couldn't have taken the photo since he couldn't reach so there was no other way to explain it. Or was there?

She grabs the laptop and sits on the bed with it.

"What are you doing?" Santana asks.

"I have a hunch."

She pulls up the Juicy Berry website and there staring her in the face was the photo.

"They've been in our house" Rachel says.

"You don't know that."

Rachel scrolls a little further down and finds a picture of some underwear.

_'I've finally got a pair of real Rachel Berry panties.'_

"They might not be yours they could be anyone's" Santana tries to reassure her wife.

"What about this?" Rachel asks as she points at the photo on the screen.

"That's the dress I wore for the Tony awards last year. When I came home this afternoon the closet door was slightly open. I just thought it was you, but I bet if I look in the closet my dress will be gone."

Rachel walks over to the closet and starts searching through her clothes.

"It isn't here" Rachel says as she flicks through the last of the remaining dresses.

"That means that someone has been in our house Santana."

"It's weird that they posted the photos on their blog though. It's like they wanted you to see it."

"Whoever they are, they're toying with me. It's like it some kind of game to them. I'm scared San."

"Come here" Santana says opening her arms so she can hug her wife.

"I'll call the police. I won't let anything happened to you baby, you know that."  
Rachel lies awake that night with Oscar sleeping in the middle of her and Santana. She didn't want to be separated from him when someone had managed to find a way into their home.

The police had done nothing to reassure her. They just told her that they would look into it however they did inform them that there was no evidence of forced entry into the apartment. That scared Rachel the most, the fact that this person could possibly enter her home anytime they wanted so as soon as the police left, she immediately called a locksmith.

The next morning Rachel calls her director and explains that she won't be at the theatre today. She really didn't want to leave the house and she has enough confidence in herself that missing one day of rehearsal wouldn't do any harm.

Santana had offered to stay at home with Rachel but Rachel knew her wife had to go to work. So once Santana had left to take Oscar to kindergarten, Rachel was alone in the house.  
She starts to think that maybe she should have gone to the theatre just to be around other people. When her cell phone rings she assumes it's her wife so she answers it without looking.

"You weren't at the theatre today" the voice says.

"May I ask who is calling?"

"I waited for you and you didn't show. That's not very nice Rachel."

"I don't know who you are but I'm going to find out. I have the police here and they are going to find you" Rachel states.

"There's no need to lie to me Rachel. I know you're alone."

"How can you be sure I'm lying?"

"It's sweet that you still wear your wife's sweatshirt."

Rachel looks down towards her NYU sweatshirt the realization causing her to feel sick to the stomach.

"You're watching me."

Rachel runs over to the large window in the living room and closes the drapes.

"That won't help Rachel. You can change your locks and close your drapes but I'll still be watching you."

"Who are you?"

"Someone you shouldn't have ignored" the voice replies before the line goes dead.

Rachel's rushes to her bedroom and grabs the large duffel bag she keeps in the closet. She packs some of the things she needs before doing the same with some of Santana and Oscar's things. She can't stay in this apartment, not when she knows that someone is constantly watching her.

She goes to the only other place she feels safe and that's Kurt's apartment.

* * *

The past few days haven't been easy living at Kurt's. He only had a two bedroom apartment which meant that Rachel, Santana and Oscar had to share one room and one bed. Oscar didn't mind though he was enjoying his adventure at Uncle Kurt's, but he was only five and didn't understand what was really going on.

They had updated the police of the latest developments and they had sent a couple of police officers to search their apartment but they didn't find anything and until they did Rachel didn't feel safe in her own home.

When Rachel exits the theatre that day she is relieved when she doesn't spot the car that has been following her. She thanks Tommy, the theatre's security guard who had escorted her to her car before getting in and driving to Oscar's kindergarten.

When she arrives she easily spots Oscars teacher Mrs. Brown since she was an elderly lady with bright red hair.

"Hello Mrs. Lopez, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick up Oscar."

"Oh his Uncle picked him up about an hour ago" Mrs. Brown says.

"Oscar doesn't have an Uncle. Maybe it was my friend Kurt. He likes to refer to himself as Oscar's Uncle."

Rachel gets her cell phone out of her purse and select's Kurt's number. It takes nearly a minute before he finally answers.

"Hey Rachel."

"Good afternoon Kurt. I really wished you would have called me before you decided to pick up Oscar from kindergarten."

"I've been busy all day, I didn't pick him up" Kurt replies.

"Kurt if it wasn't you, then who's taken my son?"


	19. Drunk

**49. Drunk**

Rachel had been to a few of these NYADA parties since she moved to New York, but she usually didn't indulge in as much alcohol as she has tonight.

She was drinking to forget, but unfortunately for Rachel she could still remember the reason she started drinking in the first place.

Rachel drains the last bit of liquid in her red cup. She shakes the cup lightly just to make sure she got every last drop.

She had been at this party for a few hours now and after the amount of alcohol she's consumed she thinks it's time to go. She attempts to get out of the chair she had been occupying for the last hour or so, it takes her a few times until she manages to get to her feet.

When she takes the first step she feels uneasy on her feet, she nearly falls over when she tries to move her other foot so instead she gives up and falls back on the chair. She's going to need help to get home.

Kurt is out with Adam so her only choice is to call Santana. She knows that since Santana had moved in with them that they had become friends, but she wasn't sure that the Latina would appreciate being woken up during the night to pick up her drunk roommate.  
It takes her a few minutes before she finally finds Santana's name in her phone and when she finally manages to make the call she gets Santana's voicemail.

* * *

Santana can't sleep, she knew that Rachel was out at some NYADA party but it was getting late and she hadn't heard her arrive home yet. She checks her phone to see what time it was and finds she has a voicemail.

She hadn't hear her phone ring. She must have left it on silent after she went to the movies with Rachel yesterday. She clicks play on the message to hear a slurring Rachel.

"Santana I need help. My legs don't work and I'm being held hostage by a chair that has an odd resemblance to one of Mr Schue's vest. I think I need another drink."

After listening to the voicemail she jumps out of bed and put on the clothes she had taken off only hours ago. She has a diva to rescue.

When she makes it to the party she has to push herself through the large crowd of dramatic art freaks. She searches for a good ten minutes before she finds Rachel sat in a large chair in the corner of the room.

The first thing Santana notices is the empty cup clutched in Rachel's hand. She's never witnessed a Rachel this drunk before and it scared her how vulnerable the little diva could have been.

"Okay Rachel, let's get you home" Santana says taking Rachel's hand and pulling her to her feet.

Santana wraps one of Rachel's arms around her neck and puts one of her arms around Rachel's waist to keep her stable.

Santana manages to get Rachel outside and into the taxi she had asked to keep waiting for her. Rachel keeps quiet the whole drive back to the loft. She snuggles herself into Santana's side and seems quite content there.

When they arrive outside the loft, Santana succeeds in getting Rachel out of the car and just about up the front steps before Rachel starts to become difficult.

"It didn't work" Rachel pouts.

"What didn't work?"

"The alcohol."

"It's seems to have worked pretty well from where I'm standing" Santana laughs trying to keep Rachel steady.

"I was trying to forget."

"Forget what?"

"Trying to forget about Santana and these feelings I'm having."

"What feelings? You aren't regretting letting me, I mean her, move in with you are you?" Santana asks finally getting Rachel into the elevator.

"Sometimes I wish she didn't live with us. I can't stand watching her walk around in those short, tight shorts. They're just so tight."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why is Santana so sexy?" Rachel asks whilst Santana struggles to get Rachel out of the elevator and over to their door.

"I don't know. You need to help me out here Rach otherwise I won't be able to get you inside."

"Is it because I'm not sexy enough? Is that why she doesn't like me?"

"She does like you" Santana replies sliding open the door and finally getting Rachel inside.

"Not in a sexual way. I even planned for her to walk in on me in the shower and I got nothing."

"You did that on purpose? I thought I'd made you uncomfortable that's why I left" Santana says.

She manoeuvres Rachel over to her room and puts her into bed.

"Why doesn't she like me? I know she might not find me that attractive but we have fun together. I just wish she loves me the same way I love her."

"Rachel. Rachel look at me."

"I'm going to tell you a secret. Santana loves you too."

"Then why hasn't see said anything."

"She's scared. She doesn't know how you'll react. Rachel."

Santana tries softly calling Rachel's name again but it's too late, she had fallen asleep.

When Rachel wakes up the next morning she has a splitting headache. It literally feels as if something is sitting on her head.

"Morning baby."

Rachel slowly opens her eyes to find her best friends in her bed underneath the covers.

"Santana what's going on?"

"Don't you remember last night? You told me that you loved me and then we had hot, crazy sex." Santana replies.

"What?" Rachel shouts sitting upright in the bed.

"Relax, I was joking."

It's only then that Rachel realises that neither she nor Santana are naked.

"I'm sorry. I don't really remember much from last night" Rachel admits.

"You don't remember anything, not even the conversation we had?"

"It seems I went over my limit when it comes to alcohol."

"You called me from that NYADA party so I came to get you and then I put you in your bed. I slept on the couch and then snuck in this morning when I heard you stirring since I knew you'd wake up soon" Santana explains.

"I apologize for putting you in that position."

"You don't need to apologize, that's what friends are for right?"

"Yeah, friends" Rachel mutters.

"You okay?" Santana asks.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm going to have a shower, I smell like a brewery."

Santana looks like she's about to say something but doesn't so Rachel gets out of the bed and walks into the bathroom leaving Santana alone in her bed.


	20. Diary

**30. Diary/Journal**

_Dear Diary_

_Johnny's party was amazing on Friday night. I told my parents that I was sleeping at Sarah's house. It's an excuse I use all the time and they always believe it. It's not entirely a lie because I do sleep at Sarah's house afterwards. They just think that I'm in my pajamas watching movies when I'm really out dancing, drinking and having fun._

"Santana, what are you doing in Maria's room?" Rachel asks making her wife jump.

"Nothing" Santana replies trying to hide the diary behind her back.

"What's that?"

"What?"

"That thing you're hiding behind your back" Rachel says.

"Oh it's just a book Maria said I could borrow."

"We've been married long enough for me to know when you're lying."

Rachel steps towards her wife and tries to grab the book from behind her back but Santana wouldn't give up that easy.

"Rachel, stop."

Santana struggles against her small but surprisingly strong wife but eventually Rachel grabs the book.

"Santana, you're reading our daughter's diary?" Rachel asks.

"I found it by accident. I really was looking for a book. I saw it and I couldn't help myself" Santana explains.

"You do realize that is an invasion of privacy?"

"Yes I know but I'm glad I did read it now. Did you know she lied to us about staying at Sarah's on Friday?"

"What?" Rachel asks.

"Apparently she fooled us to go to some party at a guy's house."

"Well if she lied about that, what else has she lied about?"

"I don't know that's as far as I got" Santana replies.

"Give me the diary."

"You're right we should put it back" Santana says handing the dairy over to her wife.

"No, I'm going to find out what else our daughter has been doing behind our back."

Rachel sits on her daughter's bed, opens the diary and starts flicking through the pages.

"Is that really a good idea, what happened to it's an invasion of privacy?"

"She has a boyfriend" Rachel states.

"What?" Santana says joining her wife on the bed.

"Who is it?"

"Sean" Rachel replies.

"Sean who?"

"I don't know that's all it says; Sean."

"Well keep reading" Santana says.

_Dear Diary._

_Sean and I went to the movies tonight. He did that cheesy arm move where he pretends to yawn so he could put his arm around my shoulders. He pulled me close to him so I could rest my head on his shoulder._

"He pulled the yawn move, how lame is that?" Santana scoffs.

"I remember you attempting that move on our first date" Rachel replies.

"Whatever. What else does it say?"

_Dear Diary_

_Sean and I have been dating for months now but I can already feel myself falling for him. I've never felt this way about anyone before and even though he hasn't been pressuring me, I'm think it's time we took the next step._

"Oh hell no" Santana shouts jumping off the bed.

"Baby, calm down."

"Calm down? Our daughter wants to take the next step with her boyfriend" Santana fumes.

"You don't know what that means."

"I was her age once, I know what it means."

"She's seventeen Santana. This issue was bound to arise sooner or later."

"Yeah well I was hoping for later. She's too young. I mean she still writes in a diary for Christ sake."

"You were younger than she was and I was her age when we first had sex."

"That was different."

"How?"

"Because it is."

"Even though that is a great argument I think the best thing we can do for her is to prepare her and to make sure she's careful. We should sit her down and talk to her" Rachel says.

"You do that. I don't want to be any part of that conversation."

"Okay I'll talk to her but I don't know how I'm supposed to explain how we know without telling her we read her diary."

"You read my diary!"

Santana and Rachel both turn towards the bedroom door to find Maria with an angry look on her face.

"It wasn't me. It was your mother's fault" Rachel says.

"Hey, I might have started it but you carried on reading it when I told you to put it back" Santana defends herself.

"I can't believe you. Do I not get any privacy in this house?" Maria asks.

"No you don't and I'm glad you finally realize that" Santana replies.

"You're so unfair" Maria says before turning around and leaving.

"This conversation isn't finished. I want to know about these parties you've been lying about and I want to meet this Sean and his parents" Santana yells as she walks out of the bedroom after her daughter.


	21. Bully

**6. Bully**

Rachel doesn't miss the irony as the ice cold slushy runs slowly down her face. How did her protector from all those years ago turn into her tormentor?

They had bonded due to being outsiders. Nobody wanted to play with the small, Jewish girl with two fathers and they didn't want to play with the feisty Latina with a bad attitude either.

_*Flashback*_

_Rachel was sat on her own at a table in the corner of the classroom. She had a gold crayon in her hand and was furiously coloring in a large star in her coloring book. She had once told her fathers that she was going to be a star. _

_Rachel loves how bright stars are and she loves the way they light up the sky at night. She had spent many nights lying on a picnic blanket with her fathers underneath the stars._

_It didn't matter how cold it got, her fathers would sit there with her for as long as she wanted. They would even bring her hot cocoa and sleeping bags just to keep her warm._

_They were the best fathers in the world and that's why Rachel couldn't understand why other people didn't think so. Even at her young age she noticed the looks people gave her family. She had asked her fathers about it once and they just told her not to worry about what other people think. The only thing she can do is be herself and to be proud of who she was._

_That's why when she started kindergarten she was her usually fun loving self. She tried everything to make friends, but the other children ignored her. That's why today just like every other day she was sat by herself._

_She places the crayon on the table and takes a moment to appreciate her artistic creation. Unfortunately, she didn't see the arm stretch out and grab her coloring book until it was too late._

_"Nice coloring freak, but you went out the lines."_

_"I did not" Rachel argues as she tries to get the book back._

_"Please David, I want it back."_

_David laughs as he pulls the page away from the book. He throws the coloring book on the floor which Rachel hastily picks up and holds up the picture of the star Rachel had spent her time coloring in._

_"Here you go" David says holding out the picture but retracts it quickly as Rachel reaches for it._

_He laughs at the short girl in front of him, who he can tell is close to tears. He scrunches the page into a ball and tries to throw it towards Rachel but a hand on his arms stop him._

_"Dave, don't be mean."_

_Santana gives his arm a tight squeeze for effect and grabs the paper ball out of David's hand._

_"Now go away" she shouts._

_David doesn't attempt to argue, he just turns as quick as he can and runs to the other side of the classroom. Even at a young age Santana had a look in her eyes that told other people not to mess with her._

_"Thank you" Rachel whispers._

_"Are you okay?" Santana asks._

_"He ruined my picture."_

_Santana looks at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand and takes a seat next to Rachel. She unfolds the page and lays it on the table trying to smooth it out as much as she can._

_"It's not perfect but it's okay" Santana says._

_"Do you want to help me finish it?" Rachel asks._

_"Okay."_

_Rachel hands Santana a dark blue crayon so she can help her color in the sky. Once they finish Santana picks up a pen and messily writes Rachel in the middle of one of the stars. Rachel takes the pen from her new friend and scribbles Santana in the other star._

_*End Flashback*_

David had never bothered her again. Rachel and Santana had stayed friends until first grade and then Santana met Brittany. They played together as a trio for a while but Rachel felt like she was slowly fading into the background as Santana protective side was veering more towards Brittany.

When they became friends with Quinn in middle school, Rachel had lost all contact with Santana and Brittany and it was only when high school started that so did the bullying.

The slushy slowly drips down her face and joins the rest of the ice covering her sweater. Luckily she was standing in front of her locker at the time so she could easily access her slushy kit.

She opens her locker door and grabs the small pink bag she keeps an extra sweater and a towel in. When she removes the bag from her locker it reveals a piece of paper stuck to the back of her locker.

It's still slightly creased and is worn with all the years that had passed but you could still clearly see the two stars with names written in them.

It was a reminder that one day Rachel will be a star and even the person that tries to tell her otherwise, once believed that she would be too.

Rachel slams her locker shut leaving both the picture and the memory behind.


	22. Cupid

**14. Cupid**

Kurt didn't get much sleep last night. He was first woken by his roommates arriving home at two o'clock in the morning, making as much noise as humanly possible.

He got out of bed to see what was going on, but when she reached Rachel's curtain he heard a conversation that surprised him.

"Why doesn't she like me? I know she might not find me that attractive but we have fun together. I just wish she loves me the same way I love her."

"Rachel. Rachel look at me."

"I'm going to tell you a secret. Santana loves you too."

"Then why hasn't see said anything."

"She's scared. She doesn't know how you'll react."

After he heard that piece of information he slowly and quietly made his way back to his room. He laid awake for a while analysing what he had just found out. His friends had just admitted that they loved each other although Rachel had slurred her words and had no idea it was Santana she was confessing too. He just hoped that if they did love each other that they would admit again when Rachel was sober.

The next morning Kurt is surprised that he had woken up to a deserted loft. Usually Rachel would have been awake by now but considering how she sounded last night Kurt wouldn't be surprised if she's still in bed.

He makes his way over to Rachel curtain but once again he's stopped when he over hears another of his roommates' conversation.

"You don't need to apologize, that's what friends are for right?"

"Yeah, friends" Rachel mutters.

Kurt can sense the disappointment in Rachel's voice. After he had heard their declarations last night he thought that things would be different for them this morning. It's obvious that neither of them is going to admit their feelings for each other anytime soon so it's time for  
Kurt to turn into cupid.

The sound of someone getting off a bed pulls Kurt back into reality, so he quickly makes his way into the kitchen.

He pours himself a cup of coffee as Rachel appears from behind the curtain and walks into the bathroom. A few minutes later Santana follows, she glances at the closed door of the bathroom before walking into the kitchen.

"Morning ladylips" she greets.

"Good morning Santana. Did you have an entertaining night?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Santana asks.

"I was just asking how your night was."

"It was okay I guess, just another day and just another dollar."

"So I was thinking we should have a girl's night tonight out just me, you and Rachel" Kurt suggests.

"I don't think Rachel will be up for that. She's battling one hell of a hangover this morning."

"I didn't mean we should go out drinking. I thought we could go out for dinner or something."

"Sure as long as you're paying Hummel" Santana smirks.

Kurt will openly admit that his plan might not have been the best. He'll get Rachel and Santana to meet him at the restaurant and then he won't turn up leaving the girls alone. It was as simple as that.

When Kurt arrives home that night he finds Rachel sitting on the couch.

"Hey Rachel what are you still doing here? I thought you were going to meet me at the restaurant" Kurt says.

"Santana was needed at work. I didn't want to wait in the restaurant alone, that's if we're still going. I know you wanted for us to have a girl's night together."

"Do you just want so stay here, order take out and watch a movie instead?"

"Sure. We should order extra for Santana too she'll be hungry when she gets home" Rachel says.

She walks into the kitchen and gets a takeout menu from the drawer before handing it to Kurt.

"Order my usual. I'm going to get into my pajamas."

Okay" Kurt replies.

So much for simple. His first plan had failed miserably so now he was going to have to channel his inner Cupid and come up with another.

* * *

Kurt's second plan was in full motion, although this time he had enlisted the help of Adam.

Kurt was at the movies with Santana and Rachel whilst Adam was at the loft preparing a romantic meal for them.

When the movie finished they walk back to the loft, but on the way Kurt receives a text message.

"It's Adam, he wants to go out. So I'll see you girls later" Kurt says.

He waves at them before walking around the corner to Adam's car.

"Is everything set?" Kurt asks.

"It's perfect."

When Rachel and Santana enter the apartment the first thing they notice is the dim light coming from the kitchen. They walk into the kitchen and find that the table had been elegantly set complete with candles and a vase of red roses.

Rachel walks over to the table and pick up a piece of paper that had been left on the table.

"There's a note" Rachel says before reading it out lout.

"This is an opportunity for you both to admit how you feel. Dinner is in the oven and Rachel don't drink too much wine."

"Kurt's trying to set us up" Santana says.

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he knows what we both know. That we like each other but are afraid to admit it"  
Santana replies.

"Technically you just admitted it."

"So then it's your turn."

"I like you" Rachel says.

"I think it's more than that. I think you more than just like me" Santana says walking closer to Rachel and taking her hand.

"Say it."

"I love you."

As soon as the words leave Rachel's mouth Santana pulls her in for a kiss. Santana enjoys the sensation of finally having Rachel lips against her before she gently pulls back and looks Rachel in the eyes.

"I love you too."

Santana pulls out a chair for Rachel motioning for her to sit down. She pours each of them a glass of wine and takes out the food from the oven. The food actually looked quite appetizing, which lead Santana to believe that Kurt had help.

Santana places the food on the table and takes a seat, scooting closer to Rachel. She laces her hand with Rachel's and places a gentle kiss on the back of it.

"We so owe Kurt for this."


	23. Party

**40. Party**

"Hey Mom" Mia greets as she enters the living room.

"Hey Honey did you have a good day at school?"

"Yeah. I performed my song in glee club today."

"That's great Mia. Your Mami is waiting for you in the dining room by the way" Rachel says.

"Why is she in the dining room?" Mia asks.

"She wants to discuss you quinceañera."

When Mia walks into the dining room she finds her mother sat at the table which was covered in papers.

"Hey Mami. Mom said you wanted me."

"Your birthday is in a couple of weeks so I just wanted to go over the plans. I thought we could go and look at dresses this weekend, and I also have some catalogues that we can go through to give you an idea. You also need to decide on your color scheme so we can order you cake and decorations" Santana explains.

"I don't care what the cake is like as long as it's vegan."

"Why would you want a vegan cake?"

"Because of Mom. She's your wife remember?"

"A vegan cake will suck and your Mom won't mind not having any. I think you should go with something simple and elegant" Santana says.

"Fine, whatever."

"I've also ordered your limo, so I can cross that of the list. You also need to decide on a song for your dance with your grandfathers. I was thinking you could use De Niña a Mujer."

"That song is older than Abuelo" Mia complains.

"No it's not. Plus It's traditional."

"Well, it looks like you've got everything under control so I'm going to leave."

"Wait. I need you to go over this guest list to makes sure that I haven't missed anyone" Santana says handing her daughter a printed list.

"How many people are here?"

"Nearly three hundred" Santana replies.

"Three hundred? Who is on here?"

"All of your family from my side and your mothers. There are your friends from school, some of mine and your mom's friends and I said that Brice could bring some of his so he wouldn't be lonely."

"It's too much" Mia says.

"I've already cut the list down as much as I can."

"I didn't just mean the list, I mean everything. The dress, the cake, the limo. It's all too much."

"It's your quinceañera."

"Exactly it's my birthday and you're running it. I don't want any of that stuff Abuela did for you. I should get to decide how my party should be not you" Mia yells before running out of the dining room.

"Well if there was any doubt she was your daughter" Rachel laughs as she enters the room.

"Excuse me. That was a perfectly executed Rachel Berry storm out."

"Is everything okay? I heard yelling but I couldn't tell what it was about" Rachel asks walking over to her wife before sitting on her lap.

"Mia said I'm ruining her birthday. I was only trying to make her quinceañera special just like mine was."

"You have to realize that even though she's your daughter she's not the same as you. Things are different now and the way you had your quinceañera may not be the way Mia wants hers. You need to stop trying to force your family's traditions on her and let our daughter have her quinceañera the way she want it. Now, I'm going to go upstairs and talk to Mia."

Rachel places a quick kiss on her wife's lips before removing herself from her lap and heading upstairs.

Rachel gently knocks on Mia's and waits for her to answer before entering.

"Hey honey, you okay?"

"Mami has turned into a quinceañerazilla. All my friends keep asking me why I'm having a big party for my fifteenth and not my sixteenth like everybody else."

"You're not like everybody else, you have a very cultured background. It is Latin tradition for girls to have a quinceañera at fifteen to celebrate your coming of age."

"I thought I already did that at my Bat Mitzvah" Mia says.

"Well yes you did, but you had your Bat Mitzvah because you wanted to embrace my Jewish heritage so now you should embrace the Latina inside of you and celebrate turning fifteen with a quinceañera. You know this day is just as important to your mother as it is to you."

"Okay, I'll try to talk to her again."

Mia makes her way back downstairs and finds her Mami in the living room instead of in the dining room like she expected.

"Hey Mami. What you doing?"

"I threw away all of my plans for your party. Your Mom was right, this is your birthday and we can celebrate it however you want."

"I'm not saying I don't want a quinceañera, I just want one my way" Mia explains.

"Okay, how about I get my notepad and we can plan out what you want together."

Santana leaves the room and returns a few minutes later with her notepad and laptop. She opens her notepad and looks at her list.

"So first we need to decide what band you want."

"I don't want a band, I want a DJ" Mia says.

"A band is more traditional and can play traditional songs that the DJ won't have."

"I don't want everything to be traditional" Mia argues.

"Why don't you have a band play for an hour or so and then you can have a DJ for the rest of the night" Rachel suggests.

"Are you here to be the mediate?" Santana asks.

"I was just passing through but I can stay to officiate if you want" Rachel replies.

"It's okay Mom, I think Mami and I can work this out together."

"Okay well I'll be in the kitchen if you need me" Rachel says before leaving.

"So what about your cake, do you still want a vegan one?" Santana asks as she jots something down in her notebook.

"Yeah, we can order it from that vegan bakery Mom goes to."

"Okay so we can go to the bakery on Saturday and look for a dress at the same time" Santana says.

"I want something elegant though. I don't want a big dress like you wore for your quinceañera and before you ask how I know Abuela showed me the photos."

"The food is all being catered by the banquet hall so the last thing on the list is music for the dances. I think we should do these with the band so it's traditional and then by the time the DJ comes on you don't have to worry about any family obligations."

"I want to use De Niña a Mujer for my dance with Abuelo. You danced to the same song with him at your quinceañera so I want to do the same. Then I want to use Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle for my dance with Grandpa and Granddad" Mia explains.

"Your Abuelo will love that."

"I think we've got everything we need. You leave this to me and I promise you'll have an amazing quinceañera" Santana smiles.

"Thanks Mami."

* * *

It was the night of Mia's fifteenth birthday and so far the night had been perfect.

Mia had danced with each of her grandfathers and even gave in and danced with Brice who had taken dance lessons from his Mom. Once the band had finished their set the DJ had taken over the music and more people started to get up and dance.

"Hey Mom are you having fun?" Mia asks.

"Yes I am. I've never experienced a quinceañera before" Rachel replies.

"What about Mami's? She told me that she invited everyone in her year at school."

"Yes well there were certain people that she didn't invite and I was one of them."

"Mami was a bitch in high school huh?" Mia says with a smirk that is identical to her Mami's.

"I think she was just struggling to deal with some things. Okay so maybe she was a little bit of a bitch."

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me would you?" Santana asks as she wraps an arm around her wife's waist.

"We were actually. Mom just told me that you didn't invite her to her quinceañera."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that, sorry."

"It's okay you were forgiven a long time ago and look at it this way, you gave me a beautiful daughter who gets to have her own quinceañera that I can enjoy." Rachel says and places a kiss on Santana's lips.

"For the next song we're going old school. This is a special song for Mia and her mothers Rachel and Santana" the DJ announces.

The opening bars of Whitney Houston's So Emotional fills the room causing Rachel and Santana to smile at each other.

"Come on Mom, Mami let's dance" Mia says grabbing both of her mothers' arms.

She pulls them over to the dance floor where her Abuela and Abuelo were already dancing together. It doesn't take long until her Grandpa and Granddad join them on the dance floor and for Brice to start dancing with their Grandma Shelby.

Mia spots her friends from school and goes over to join them leaving Rachel and Santana to dance alone.

"I can't believe our daughter is so grown up" Rachel says.

"We did a good job."

They continue to dance as they looked on at their daughter who was turning into a beautiful young woman. They couldn't have been more  
proud.


	24. Music

**36. Music**

"Every single one of us in this room is here for the same reason, our love of music. Music has always been used as a way of conveying our emotions so this week I want you all to find a song that conveys an emotion you've being feeling lately" Mr Schue says.

As soon as the glee club is dismissed Rachel quickly tells Santana that she's heading to the music store to look at sheet music and after a kiss she's out the door.

"I can't wait to hear what song you pick" Kurt says walking over to Santana.

"What do you mean?"

"You do realise Mr Shue has just set you up to perform a song for Rachel."

"No he said I have to sing a song about my feelings" Santana argues.

"Which means Rachel will be expecting a song. She is probably choosing between the dozens of songs she's got stored away to sing to you."

"Crap your right. She's just gone to the music store" Santana says.

It was Monday and Santana had spend the whole weekend practising her song for Rachel. She was actually quite excited to perform her song today so she was getting rather impatient waiting for Mr Schue to arrive. It took five more minutes before he finally does.

"So today we are going to start our emotions week. Would anyone like to go first?" he asks.

"I will" Santana replies.

"Okay so you asked for us to express our feelings and I think this song sums up my feelings for Rachel perfectly."

_Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say_  
_Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face_

Every member of the glee club turns towards Rachel to gauge her reaction and were surprised to find her face expressionless.

_There's no one quite like you_  
_You push all my buttons down_  
_I know life would suck without you_

Santana walks around the back of the front row.

_At the same time, I wanna hug you_  
_I wanna wrap my hands around your neck_

She illustrates her point by grabbing Puck's shoulders, gently shaking him.

_You're a diva but I love you_  
_And you make me so mad I ask myself_

She continues her walk past of the glee club until she's back standing in front of them.

_Why I'm still here, or where could I go_  
_You're the only love I've ever known_

Santana draws a heart in the air with her fingers.

_But I hate you, I really hate you,_  
_So much, I think it must be_

Santana grabs Rachel's hand and pulls her to her feet.

_True love, true love_  
_It must be true love_

Santana places her hands on Rachel's hips as Rachel's rest on Santana's shoulders so they can sway to the music.

_Nothing else can break my heart like_  
_True love, true love,_  
_It must be true love_  
_No one else can break my heart like you_

Rachel laughs at her girlfriend's antic and puts a hand over Santana's mouth so she can sing the next verse.

_Just once try to wrap your little brain around my feelings_  
_Just once please try not to be so mean_

Rachel emphasizes her words by pointing a playful finger at Santana.

_Repeat after me now R-O-M-A-N-C-E-E-E_  
_Come on I'll say it slowly (Romance)_  
_You can do it baby_

Rachel leans up and places a quick kiss on Santana's lips before carrying on with the song.

_At the same time, I wanna hug you_  
_I wanna wrap my hands around your neck_

Rachel wraps her arms around Santana's neck so they can resume the position they had earlier.

_You're an handful but I love you_  
_And you make me so mad I ask myself_  
_Why I'm still here, or where could I go_  
_You're the only love I've ever known_  
_But I hate you, I really hate you,_  
_So much, I think it must be_

Tina and Mike join them at the front of the choir room and start to dance together, while Kurt and Mercedes join them at the other side.

_True love, true love_  
_It must be true love_  
_Nothing else can break my heart like_  
_True love, true love,_  
_It must be true love_  
_And no one else can break my heart like you_

_Santana: Why do you rub me up the wrong way?_  
_Rachel: Why do you say the things that you say?_  
_Santana: Sometimes I wonder how we ever came to be_  
_Rachel: But without you I'm incomplete_

Santana can't help herself so she places a quick kiss on Rachel's lips.

I think it must be  
True love, true love  
It must be true love  
Nothing else can break my heart like

The rest of the glee club get to their feet and join in with the dancing and singing the harmonies.

True love, true love,  
It must be true love  
And no one else can break my heart like you (like you)  
No one else can break my heart like you (like you)  
No one else can break my heart like you

Santana wraps and arm around Rachel's waist pulling her close and as soon as the music fades the whole glee club claps.

"So did I do good or what?" Santana asks Rachel.

"You did very good" Rachel replies with a kiss.

"Once again you proof me wrong Miss Lopez. Only you could sing about how much you hate your girlfriend to her face and get away with it. Brava" Kurt says.

"Thanks Hummel."

"That was a great performance Santana, thank you for sharing it with us. Who's up next?" Mr Schue asks.


	25. Nerd

**21. Nerd/Dork**

When Santana arrives home from works she finds her daughter sitting on the couch watching television.

"Hey Mia, where is your brother?"

"He's upstairs doing his homework."

"Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" Santana asks.

"I'll do it later" Mia replies.

"You have an hour. I want it finished before dinner."

Santana makes her way upstairs and into her bedroom so she can change out of her work clothes. She slips on a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt before heading over to her son's room.

She knocks on the door and waits for him to answer, something she's had to learn to get used to ever since her children had turned into teenagers.

When Santana enters the room she finds Brice playing on his game console instead of at his desk like she expected.

"Hey Mia said you were doing your homework."

"I finished it. I even finished my English paper early" Brice says not taking his eyes off whatever fantasy game he was playing.

"Did you get your result for your history test?" Santana asks.

"I got an A+."

"That's great Brice."

"Thanks Mami."

Santana knew she wasn't going to get much else from her son especially when he's playing on his video games. She can't really complain though, he's a really good kid and a straight A student.

"I call you when dinner is ready" Santana says as she leaves.

As Santana walks through the living room she notices Mia who is still sat on the couch watching television. She should have guessed that her daughter wouldn't have even attempted to start her homework yet.

She makes her way down to the basement where they had created a soundproofed music room. As soon as she opens the door the sound of Rachel's voice floods out of the room.

Santana quietly closes the door behind her and watches as her wife sings. It is a few minutes before Rachel notices that Santana is watching her from the door.

"Hey, how long have you been standing there for?"

"Just a few minutes. You sounded beautiful as always baby."

"Thank you."

"Where are the kids?" Rachel asks.

"Brice has finished his homework and is currently in some fantasy world on his console and Mia is still watching television even though I told her she has to finish her homework before dinner."

"I have noticed that our daughter has turn into quite the procrastinator recently. I think she's taking after you."

"I don't procrastinate" Santana argues.

"Then how come you still haven't repainted the bathroom?"

"I told you that I'll do it when I have time."

"All I was saying was that she has your genes" Rachel says.

"I wasn't like that in high school. I acted like I wasn't bothered about school but secretly tried hard and I always got good grades. Mia doesn't even put any effort into things other than cheerleading it's probably a trait she got from the sperm donor we used."

"Stop trying to put the blame on other people besides that makes no sense because we used the same sperm donor for Brice too and he isn't like that. It's not that Mia isn't smart she's just idle."

"Let's see how idle she'll be with my foot up her ass" Santana says.

"Maybe we need to coax her a little bit but we can't push her too much or she'll start to resent us."

"She already resents us. She's a teenage girl and we're her parents. That's pretty much how it works."

"I never resented my parents" Rachel points out.

"That's because you were like their golden child. You probably never did anything that they had to punish you for."

"I'll have you know I was grounded for a week once."

"Why what did you do?" Santana asks.

"I might have thrown a tantrum when my dads wouldn't let me watch Funny Girl again when I was eight. I had to stay in my room for the whole of the next day, it was horrible."

"You were grounded for a day? Try being grounded and having your car keys taken off you for two weeks."

"Why what did you do?"

"Which time?" Santana smirks.

"My mom caught me trying to sneak out of house and sent me back upstairs but then later on she found me sneaking back into the house a two o'clock in the morning."

"If Mia ever does that, I'll know who to blame" Rachel says.

"I guess we should go back upstairs to reality. I love our kids I really do but I can't wait to send them to my parents this weekend and spend the whole of two days with my beautiful wife."

"How about one day with your beautiful wife and you can spend the other repainting the bathroom?"

"Very funny."

Rachel laughs before pecking Santana on the lips.

"I'm going to start dinner. Is vegan lasagna okay?" Rachel asks.

"Perfect. I'm going to check on Mia and then I'll come and help you."

When Santana walks into the living room she finds Mia still on the couch with her cell phone in her hand.

"Have you started your homework yet?"

"I told you I'll do it later" Mia replies not looking up from her phone.

"It's later now. So I want you to start it and will you please look at me when I'm talking to you."

"I said I'd do it" Mia says finally looking at her mother.

"Don't make me take that phone off you. Now go and get your homework" Santana says turning off the television.

Santana walks into the kitchen to find her wife preparing dinner. She grabs a knife and helps her wife chop vegetables.

"Had she started her homework yet?" Rachel asks.

"Nope, she's fifteen she shouldn't need me to tell her to do her homework, she should just do it. I'm not going to remind her anymore and let her face the consequences."

"You're right we should let her learn by her own mistakes, but we should still gently guide her in the right direction."

"At least we only have to go through this once unless Brice has a sudden personality change. Speaking of Brice do you think he's a bit of a nerd?" Santana asks.

"Santana! That's our son you're talking about."

"I know and I'm proud that he's really smart but he spends all his free time reading old comic books or playing on the video game equivalent of dungeons and dragons."

"He's not ashamed about his individuality and neither should you be" Rachel says.

"I'm not ashamed. I just know what it's like for kids like him in high school."

"How do you know what it's like for a child like him? You were a cheerleader and besides the one time you got slushied you were fine in high school, you were popular."

"Exactly and I know what the popular kids do to kids like him."

"Brice is a good kid, we should just let him be who he is" Rachel says.

"I know. I'm sorry; it's just sometimes I worry about him."

"It's your job as his mother to worry. Will you set the table?" Rachel asks.

"Sure" Santana replies.

It's half an hour later when Santana makes her way up stairs and knocks on her daughter's door. She doesn't get a reply but she can hear music coming from the other side so she knocks a little harder.

Santana gets impatient so she opens her daughter's door and walks into her room. Mia is sat at her desk doing her homework so Santana walks over to her music station and turns off the music.

"Dinner is ready" Santana says.

She's about to leave to get Brice when she notices something on Mia's desk.

"You got a C- on your Spanish paper. You should be doing better since it is your second language."

"I don't understand why I need to take Spanish if I can already speak it" Mia says.

"It's about more than just speaking the language you have to learn every aspect of it, even Brice is more advanced at Spanish than you are."

"Yeah well Brice is a Nerd."

"Don't talk about your brother like that. Just go downstairs for dinner."

Santana follows Mia out of her room and knocks on Brice's bedroom door. She enters when she hears her son answer and finds Brice sat on his bed reading George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four.

"I thought you said you'd finished your homework."

"I have, this is just for fun."

"Okay well dinner is ready" Santana says.

She takes a quick look around Brice's room at the figures he has on his book shelf and the posters of various sci-fi films. She wasn't going to ask her son to change who he is but maybe she could get him to add to his individuality.

The next day Santana comes home to an empty house. Rachel was at the theatre and Mia and Brice were at their friends houses. She decides to catch up on some of the shows she had missed during the week. She was half way through her first show when Brice comes home.

"Hey did you have a good time?" Santana asks while pausing her show.

"Yeah, Johnny and I were practicing chess. I have my first tournament next week. Johnny also got the new Dragon Fantasy game so we played that for a while too."

"I'm glad you had fun and I'm proud you joined the chess club, but have you ever thought about expanding you extracurricular activities?" Santana asks.

"I was thinking of joining the Mathletes."

"What about something more athletic, you like sports right?"

"Sure I like football and basketball" Brice answers.

"Why don't you try out for one of those or maybe both?" Santana suggest.

"Do you think I'm a nerd?"

"What?"

"Is that why you want me to try out for something athletic?" Brice asks.

"Of course I don't think you're a nerd. I just think that maybe you should branch out a bit and make yourself an all-rounder. You're really smart Brice but you're also quite athletic so I just thought you should try and show that side of you too. Mia has the Cheerios and I just thought you could have something like that too."

"Okay Mami, I'll think about it"


	26. Obvious

**35. Obvious**

Rachel had called Santana as soon as she discovered her son was missing. She needed to hear her wife's voice to help calm her down. Santana had been yelling about taking legal action against Oscar's kindergarten and had only calmed down when Rachel had told her that yelling wouldn't bring Oscar back.

Once Santana had calmed down she told Rachel to call everyone that they knew to make sure that a friend hadn't picked Oscar up and that she would call the police and would meet her at their apartment.

When Rachel arrives at the apartment Santana is already there with the police. She runs straight into the comfort of her wife's arms.

"I called everyone and no one has him" Rachel says through tears.

"Mrs. Lopez we have sent a few officers to your son's kindergarten. We've made your case top priory especially after the recent reports you have given us about a stalker."

"You think the creepy blogger could have taken our son?" Santana asks.

"At this moment we're not ruling anything out" officer Jenkins replies.

"It's all my fault. I should have taken it more seriously when you told me about the blogger, but I thought it was best just to reassure you. I didn't want to let you worry too much."

"Santana this isn't your fault. We didn't know that this would happen. You have to stop blaming yourself and concentrate on getting our son back" Rachel says.

"I'm sorry. We're not going to find Oscar with me falling apart. Please officer, continue."

"We got a description from the teacher at Oscar's kindergarten. She described him as a white male around five foot six with short brown hair. Do either of you know anyone of that description?" officer Jenkins asks.

"No, we called everyone we knew and none of them had picked him up" Rachel replies.

"We have someone trying to create a sketch of the suspect, once we have that you might be able to recognize him since the description we have at the moment is very vague. I promise you we'll do everything we can to get your son home safe."

"Thank you officers. I'll show you out" Santana says.

As soon as Santana goes to show the police officers out Rachel's cell phone rings. She looks at the number for a few seconds before she decides to answer it.

"Hello."

"Don't react to this phone call. I can still see you remember. Excuse yourself so I can talk to you alone."

Santana is still talking to the police officers by the door so Rachel quickly signals to Kurt that she'll be back in a minute before making her way into the privacy of her bedroom.

"Do you have my son?" she asks.

"Oscar is safe."

"Where is he?"

"I'll text you an address. Come alone or you will never see Oscar again."

As soon as the call ends Rachel walks back into the living room.

"Who was that?" Santana asks.

"It was just my agent. Look, I can't just sit here and wait for news. I'm going to go and drive around to see if I can spot him."

"I'll come with you" Santana says.

"We should split up so we can cover more ground. Kurt can you stay here just in case Oscar comes home?" Rachel asks.

"Of course I will."

"We all have our cell phones so any news at all you call okay?" Santana asks but Rachel was already out of the door.

As soon as Rachel is in her car she puts the address into her GPS and starts the engine. When she arrives at her destination she's surprised to find that it's an apartment block and not an abandoned warehouse like she was expecting.

She checks the apartment number on the text one last time before she goes into the building to find it. Eventually she finds apartment twelve on the second floor and finds that the door is open.

The apartment is quite dark when she enters, the drapes have been closed stopping most of the sunlight entering but she can still see a figure across the room.

"Where's my son?" Rachel demands.

The person in the room comes closer to Rachel.

"Where's my son?" Rachel asks again.

"What's wrong Rachel? Do you not remember me?" the man asks.

It takes a few moments staring at the man in front of her before it eventually clicks.

"Jacob?"

"It's amazing how different a person can look when they're older especially with a haircut and contacts."

"I can't believe it's you" Rachel says.

"Wasn't it obvious? Juicy Berry Info, JBI, Jacob Ben Israel. Let's not forget about the panties you screwed me over in high school but not this time, I finally got a pair."

"Please Jacob just tell me where Oscar is."

"I told you he was safe. He's in the bedroom watching TV."

"Please Jacob let me see him" Rachel begs.

"You have two minutes and then I want to continue our talk."

Jacob walks over to a door on the right and enters it, two seconds later Oscar runs out and towards Rachel.

"Mommy."

"Hey sweetie, are you okay?" Rachel asks squeezing her son in a tight hug.

"Yes. Where's Mami?"

"She's waiting for us at home" Rachel replies.

She kisses her son on the head and discreetly slips her cell phone into his jacket pocket.

"Call Mami but make sure you're really quiet okay" Rachel whispers into Oscar's ear so Jacob can't hear.

"Oscar, why don't you carry on watching television whilst I talk to Jacob, okay?" Rachel says as she puts her son back on the floor.

"Okay Mommy" Oscar replies running back into the bedroom, Jacob shutting the door behind him.

"Why would you do this?" Rachel asks.

"You ignored me in high school, but you certainly aren't ignoring me now."

"That's what this is about high school? High school was nearly fifteen years ago Jacob."

"Fifteen years and I've never forgot you. I was in love with you Rachel and you rejected me.

Then I find out you're dating one of the people that made your life a living hell during high school. I was skeptical at first. I didn't think it would last. I mean everyone knew about Santana's reputation in high school. I thought she'd get bored and move on but then you got married. Then a few years later you had a child with her and I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I go after Santana? Why didn't I make her life hell but it's always been about you Rachel" Jacob explains.

"I saw you recently and you look unhappy. I knew that Santana was making you unhappy so this is an opportunity for you and me to be a real family with Oscar."

"Oscar and I already have a real family with Santana" Rachel says.

"I saw it in your eyes Rachel she's making you unhappy."

"You're wrong Jacob, I love Santana and she makes me the happiest person in the world. The only person who has been making me miserable lately is you. You stalked me, broke into my house, you posted private things about me on your blog and then you took my son. I've spent the afternoon absolutely terrified because of you Jacob. You're the only one that's been hurting me."

"I didn't mean to hurt you Rachel. I love you" Jacob says taking a step closer.

"If you really loved me then you'd want the best for me and that's Santana and our son. Please Jacob let me take my son and leave."

"I really didn't want to do this" Jacob says walking over to a set of drawers in the corner of the room. He opens the top drawer and pulls out a gun.

"But if I can't have you then nobody can."

Rachel stares at Jacob or more specifically the gun clutched in his hand and then she hears a bang.

The apartment door crashes open as a dozen armed police officer flood into the room yelling at Jacob to put the gun down and to get onto the floor.

Two police officers force Jacob to the ground as they try to put hand cuffs on him whilst another police officer walks over towards Rachel.

"Are you okay Mrs. Lopez?" he asks.

"I'm fine. My son is in the bedroom."

"We'll get him back to you in a minute. The officers are just securing the apartment."

A few minutes later the police officer that had interviewed Rachel at their apartment walks over carrying Oscar in his arms. Oscar was smiling and was wearing the police officer's hat on his head.

"Look Mommy, I'm a police man."

Rachel takes her son into her arms and hugs him tightly before turning to the police officer.

"Thank you."

"You should be thanking your little boy here. We were able to trace your cell phone when he called your wife, but I'm assuming you had something to do with that."

"I slipped him the phone, but other than that it was all him" Rachel smiles.

"Well thank you for your help Officer Lopez. Would it be okay for me to have my hat back please?" officer Jenkins asks.

Oscar smiles proudly before taking the hat off his head and handing it over to the police officer.

"I'll need to take a statement but I give you a few minutes first."

"Thank you, officer."

"Rachel, Oscar thank god" Santana says running into the room and wrapping her arms around her wife and son.

"Some asshole police officer wouldn't let me through."

"Mami said a bad word."

"Sorry Oscar but Mami really wanted to see you. I can't believe it was Jacob."

"How did you know?" Rachel asks.

"When Oscar called me he said he was watching TV at Jacob's house. When the police traced your call to this building we found the residents names and Jacob Ben Israel was the obvious answer" Santana explains.

Oscar starts to squirm in his mothers' tight hug, trying to get put down.

"I wanna go down and watch TV. Ronnie Rabbit is on."

Rachel can't help but laugh at her son's innocence. He had no idea the nightmare his parents had just been through.

"You'll have to wait until we get home buddy" Santana says.

The two police officers that had handcuff Jacob, were now pulling him towards the apartment door.

"You don't deserve her. She's too good for you" he yells at Santana.

"Fuck you, you sick son of a bitch. You better hope they lock you up because prison will be enjoyable compared to what I'd do to you" Santana seethes.

The police officers continue to drag Jacob out of the apartment as he carries on shouting.

"Come on let's go home" Santana says.

"I have to talk to the police officers."

"Can't you talk to them later? I just want to go home."

"Here take Oscar and I'll just quickly talk to them" Rachel says handing over her son before walking over to a police officer.

"Excuse me Officer Jenkins, my family would like to go home now but I understand you need a statement from me."

"It can wait until tomorrow Mrs. Lopez. You go home and be with your family, you've had a traumatic day."

"Thank you Officer Jenkins, good night" Rachel says.

* * *

It felt strange being back in her own bed after the past few weeks staying at Kurt's apartment. Oscar was sleeping in between her and Santana since she still wasn't ready to be separated from him again just yet.

She knew that it was all over. Oscar was finally home and Jacob had been arrested but she was still struggling to sleep. It was like Santana was reading her mind as she feels her wife take her hand and kiss the back of it.

Oscar had shifted closer to Rachel whilst he slept which left Santana a bit of room to get closer to her wife.

"I'm sorry" Santana whispers.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I promised to protect you and Oscar. I said I wouldn't let anything happen and it did" Santana says.

"I told you before Santana it wasn't you're fault, nobody could have predicted what happened. All that matters now is that we're all safe."

"I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you both."

"You don't have to think about that, we're both okay and we're both here with you and it's where we'll always be" Rachel says.

"I love you."

"I love you too" Rachel replies.

Santana carefully leans over Oscar and kisses her wife. She knows what Rachel said was true but Santana would do everything she could to make sure nothing happens to her family again.


	27. Boyfriend

**15. Boyfriend**

When Alejandro Lopez arrives home he finds his wife in the kitchen preparing dinner. He walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Something smells good."

"It's just the two of us tonight" Maribel says.

"Why? Where is Santana?"

"She's out with that boyfriend of hers again. I'm glad that she's happy but we hardly ever see her anymore."

"It wasn't that long ago since you couldn't wait for her to leave" Alejandro chuckles.

"That's when she was being a temperamental teenager, she's calmed down since she started dating Ray."

"I think it's about time we met this boy, he's been dating our daughter for six months and  
we don't know anything about him."

"We'll talk to Santana about inviting him over for dinner when she gets home" Maribel says.

"Santana, your father and I want to meet Ray."

"Why?"

"You've been dating this boy for a while and we know nothing about him. I want to make sure he's good enough for my daughter" Alejandro says.

"So I want you to invite him over for dinner, Friday night" Maribel adds.

"I'll ask but he might be busy."

"I'm going to keep asking until he's not."

"Fine, I call him now."

Santana gets out her cell phone and hits the call button.

"Hey, my parents want you to come over for dinner on Friday night. Okay I see you tomorrow."

"Are you happy now?" Santana asks her mother.

"Yes Mija. Now I need to plan what to cook."

"It has to be vegan." Santana says before leaving the kitchen.

As soon as Santana enters her room she's back on her cell phone.

"Haven't you heard enough of my voice for one day?"

"I'm used to it, you never usually shut up. I just wanted to explain that phone call before, my mom kept asking me to invite you over so I called you in front of her to prove that I did."

"Do you not want me to come over?"

"It's not like that Rae, they're expecting a guy what will they say when you turn up?"

"Maybe this is your opportunity to come out. I'm not forcing you it's your decision just think about it."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too." 

* * *

It was the night that Santana was finally going to come out to her parents. She had been dating Rachel for six month now but obviously they had known each other since Santana joined glee club.

Santana didn't intend for her parents to find out that she was dating someone. She thought she was alone in the house when she was on the phone with Rachel and when she ended the call by saying "I love you too Rae" her mother overheard.

Of course her mother wanted information about this boy that Santana apparently loves and since she didn't want to explain to her mom that she was a lesbian she went along with her mother's assumptions and pretended that she had a boyfriend.

She didn't enjoy lying to her parents but she was scared. She had no idea how they were going to react and she was starting to think that it was a bad idea to invite Rachel over for dinner. She really did love Rachel though and that's why she agreed to this dinner because Rachel was someone important in her life who she wanted to share with her family.

When the doorbell rings, she runs down the stairs as fast as she can but her mother is already on her way to the door.

"There is something I need to tell you." Santana says.

Maribel ignores her comment and unlocks the door.

"Rae's a girl" Santana shouts just as her mother opens the door to reveal a smiling Rachel.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Lopez, I'm Rachel."

"Welcome Rachel dear, please come in."

"Thank you Mrs Lopez."

"It's Maribel and Alejandro, you are dating our daughter after all" Maribel smiles showing Rachel into the living room and offering her a seat.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" Santana asks.

"Why should we?"

"You basically just found out I was gay and you didn't have a reaction."

"Would you rather me tell you that I hate you and throw you out of my house? You're my daughter Santana and if dating Rachel is what makes you happy then who am I to deny that."

"Papi?" Santana asks as her father walks into the room.

"She's a looker, Santi. You've done well for yourself."

"So you're both okay with this?" Santana asks to make sure.

"Of course we are Mija. Now Rachel, Santana told us that you are a vegan so I hope you like vegetable goulash."

"That sounds great Mrs…I mean Maribel." Rachel says, correcting herself when Maribel sends her a look.

After dinner Rachel and Santana head upstairs to Santana bedroom. They ended up lying  
together on Santana's bed with the bedroom door open, a new rule that had just been put  
in place.

"So that went better than I expected. I think the fact that you're every parents dream child helped" Santana says.

"I'm not a dream child."

"Yes you are. You were polite, complimented my mom's cooking and you charmed my dad.  
I was just saying that it was easier to except me being gay because I had a perfect girlfriend."

"Seems as if I'm not the only one that's a charmer, you'll have to save some of that charm for my parents" Rachel says.

"You just met my parents for the first time just over an hour ago, I think we should wait awhile before I meet yours."


	28. Embarrass

**34 Embarrass**

Santana had surprised Rachel with a vacation. They had just spent the past few hours on a plane and were now finally at the hotel. Santana does the chivalrous thing by pulling their suitcases whilst Rachel takes the key card and opens the door to their room.

The room was remarkable it was spacious, eloquently decorated and had a balcony with a sea view. There was one problem however, the sleeping arrangement.

"Why do we have two separate beds? We paid for a double room not a twin."

"It's fine Santana we'll just push the beds together."

"How the hell are we supposed to have sex on that? I don't want you falling through the beds whilst I'm in the middle of rocking your world" Santana says.

"It's only for a week."

"I'm going to reception to complain."

Santana takes the key card form Rachel and makes her way back down to the reception desk.

"Hello Ladies. How may I help you?" the receptionist asks.

"I have a complaint about my room. I booked a double room and you gave me a twin."

"I'm sorry Madame. Please give me a moment and I'll see what I can do."

The reception clerk turns to his computer and presses a few keys before turning back towards Santana.

"I'm sorry. We have no double rooms available" he says.

"Well you better check again because I booked one three months ago, so I expect to have one."

"I'm sorry. There might be one available in a few days."

"Listen to me. All I wanted was a romantic vacation with my girlfriend and I can't do that with separate beds if you get what I mean. Now this isn't my problem, it's your so you better fix it" Santana demands.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing…" the receptions starts before he's interrupted by Santana.

"Listen, I come from a place called Lima, Ohio. More specifically I come from Lima Heights and you really don't want to know goes down there. Now I suggest you get back on that computer and find me a room with a double bed."

"The only room available is the honeymoon suite."

"Then we'll take it at no extra cost of course and I want a free bottle of champagne" Santana says.

"Yes ma'am."

The man quickly retrieves two new key cards and hands them over to a smirking Santana.

"Thank you" Rachel says.

As soon as they enter the elevator Rachel turns to her girlfriend.

"You didn't have to bring out your Lima Heights bit you know and I can't believe you would embarrass me by referring to our sex life."

"I got us a double room didn't I? Not only that, I got us the honeymoon suite."

"Well I hope it comes with a couch because that's where you'll be sleeping tonight" Rachel says.

"Let's just see our new room, unpack and then I'll take you out for a cocktail."

If Santana thought the other room was nice, it was nothing compared to the honeymoon suite. The room was beautiful, there was even rose petals on the bed however it also had a small couch too but Santana already knew that Rachel would let her sleep on the couch if Santana got her drunk enough. She always became clingy when she was drunk and sometimes handsy which meant that she wouldn't want to be alone in bed.

Santana favorite part of the room was the large Jacuzzi bath. She was starting to wonder if she would ever see outside of the room with all the new places, she had seen for her and Rachel to christen.

When she walks back into the main room Rachel was already unpacking the suitcases and putting clothes away in the wardrobe and various drawers. Santana helps her girlfriend unpack because the quicker it's done the faster she can hit the bars.

They find a small bar that's a bit quieter than others. They had only got off the plane four hours ago and wanted a relaxed first night and Santana knows that there are plenty of other nights to really enjoy the night life. They had made a deal, as long as Santana would visit some local then Rachel wouldn't mind going to the bars at night.

They find a small table, take a seat and start to look through the drinks menu.

"So what do you want? How about sex on the beach or maybe a slow comfortable screw?  
Oh, I know what you like, a quick fuck."

"You're making that up" Rachel says.

"No I'm not, look" Santana says handing Rachel the cocktail menu.

"Oh my god these are preposterous."

As Rachel continues to look over the menu a waiter arrives who attention seems to be on her girlfriend's chest rather than anything else.

"Hello ladies, what can I do for you?" He asks.

"I'll have a sex on the beach" Santana replies noticing that the man's leering has now transferred over to her.

"What time?" the waiter jokes.

"Whenever my girlfriend's ready, but for now I'll just have my drink. What do you want baby? I know you love a pink pussy or a slippery nipple and we know you always end your night with a screaming orgasm" Santana says with a smirk.

"I'll just have a sex on the beach too please" Rachel answers.

The waiter nods his head and walks back towards the bar.

"What's wrong with you tonight? It's like you're on a mission to embarrass me."

"He deserved it he was starting at your chest and mine. I just wanted to mess with him a little bit plus it was funny as fuck." Santana laughs.

"You better hope that couch is comfy."

"Don't worry I'm not going to need it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asks.

"Nothing baby."

Before Rachel has a chance to reply the waiter comes back and places the drink on the table but this time he keeps eye contact with Santana as she pays him and as soon as he has his money he leaves.

"Looks like he learnt his lesson" Rachel says.

"How about after this we have some real sex on the beach?"


	29. Meeting

**33. Meeting**

Santana grabs two bottles of water out of the fridge and makes her way back towards the bedroom, not bothering that she's walking naked through her penthouse apartment.

When she walks through the door to her bedroom she is greeted by the sight of an equally naked woman in her bed. She climbs on the bed and gives the girl a kiss on the lips before handing her a bottle of water.

"You have to stay hydrated for all the plans I have for you. Are you sure you don't want another check because all the sex we've been having, it's got to be worth more than a million dollars."

Rachel had gotten used to Santana's crass approach after the past few weeks they've spent together.

"I never gave Finn that check you gave me."

"I know" Santana says causing Rachel to look at her in confusion.

"I know I'm rich but even I would notice if a million dollars had left my bank account."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Rachel asks.

"I didn't have any reason too. You came back to me after the first time and that's all I cared about."

"I didn't tell Finn that I went to your house that night. He thought that was the end of it when you walked out of the lounge. God knows what he would do if he knew I keep meeting you like this."

"As much as it kills me to ask, do you want to stop?" Santana asks.

"No. I love Finn, I do, but I don't want to end things with you."

"I understand. If I was you I wouldn't want to stop seeing me either."

"Would you like me to leave you and yourself alone to spend some quiet time together?" Rachel mocks.

"I'd rather spend some more time with you but I don't expect it to be quiet."

Santana pounces on Rachel, trapping her body beneath her own and connecting their lips.

"San, stop."

Santana ignores Rachel's protests and moves her lips to Rachel's neck.

"Seriously you need to stop. I have to go."

Santana rolls off Rachel and sighs.

"I'll come over tonight after my performance if I have time, but I have to go home and see Finn."

"I know. I just wish that you didn't have to go. I want you to stay with me."

"I just told you I might make it back tonight."

"I didn't mean just for tonight. I hate just having these meetings with you whenever you can. I want you to stay with me permanently" Santana confesses.

"Santana I can't have this conversation now."

"Leave Finn and come and live with me."

"Santana, what did I just say?"

"I can give you everything he can't. Money, protection, fame but most importantly I can give you love. I love you Rachel and it breaks my heart every time you leave and go back to that man you clearly don't love anymore, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"Santana please don't do this when I have to leave" Rachel begs.

"I just wanted to put it out there so you know where I stand. The rest is down to you."

"I'll call you later if I can come over."

"Okay" Santana says defeated and Rachel leaves the room without another word.

That night Santana enters the Midnight Lounge and slips discreetly into a booth at the back of the club. She deliberately chooses a place where she couldn't be seen but where she could still see the stage.

She wasn't there to cause trouble that's why she sat out of sight. She was there to see Rachel sing. It had been too long since she last heard that beautiful voice. It's what drew Santana to Rachel in the first place, but now it's just one of the things that she loves about the singer.

As soon as Rachel steps out onto the stage she instantly lights up the room. Santana knows that Rachel is far better than this crappy lounge and the crappy life she's living with Finn. She deserves more than that. So much more and Santana knows that she's the one that can give it to her. She just wishes that Rachel could see that too.

Once Rachel finishes her set, Santana leaves her hidden spot and walks out of the Midnight Lounge. Santana was in bed watching The Bachelorette cursing because the girl completely chose the wrong guy, the story of her life.

Santana flicks off the television and decides to go to sleep instead, but as soon as she gets comfortable the doorbell rings.

She drags herself out of bed and after checking the intercom she lets Rachel into her apartment.

"I saw you tonight" Rachel says.

"I'm sorry. I know that you didn't want me to come around the club anymore but I just wanted to hear you sing."

"It's okay, Finn didn't see you."

"Please can we not talk about him tonight?"

"Okay we don't have to talk about him, but it's going to be hard not mentioning him when I tell you that I left him."

"What?" Santana asks only noticing for the first time the duffel bag Rachel was holding.

"All day I couldn't stop thinking about what you said this morning and when I went back home to Finn I noticed you were right. I'm not in love with him anymore. I'm in love with you."

Rachel drops the duffel bag on the floor and closes the distance between her and Santana.  
Their lips meet in a kiss that only emphasizes the love that they share for each other.

"I'll give you everything you ever wanted. I'll even buy you your own lounge so you don't have to stop singing" Santana says as she pulls back.

"I don't want anything other than you."

"What if I want to buy you things? I've never thought about owning a lounge before, but now that I have a star attraction the idea sounds appealing. I've always had money, but I never had anyone to share it with before. Well I've had girls that wanted to be with me because of my money but I know you're not like that. If you were, you would have just fucked me and cashed the check the next day."

"I think there was a compliment somewhere in there" Rachel jokes.

"It was definitely a compliment. You are nothing like the girls I've been with in the past. You're one of a kind Rachel Berry and your definitely worth more than a million dollars."


	30. Cheerios

**42. Cheerios**

When Santana arrives home the first thing she is welcomed by is the sound of yelling.

"What's going on?"

"Your son is ruining my life" Mia replies.

"No I'm not. I'm just expanding my extracurricular activities like you suggested Mami"

That's when Santana notices that Brice is wearing a cheerleading uniform.

"You joined the Cheerios?"

"You told him to do this?" Mia asks.

"No I told him to try out for football or basketball. Not cheerleading."

"I thought about trying out for a sport but then I saw the cheerleaders practicing and I knew I wanted to do that" Brice explains.

"Cheerios was my thing and you've just come in and ruined it for me."

"I'm sorry okay. I didn't think you'd care."

Santana enters Brice's room and sees the cheerleading uniform in a pile on the floor which looked out of place in his pristine room. Santana picks up the uniform and sits on Brice's bed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have forced you to join something else and I should have supported your decision to be a cheerleader. I didn't even get a chance to ask you why you wanted to be one."

"I like gymnastics, but McKinley doesn't have a team so the closest thing is cheerleading.  
People don't understand the complexity of some of the moves we have to perform, plus it combines dancing too."

"If you like dancing why didn't you join the glee club?"

"I can't sing and I know you've told me story about people being in glee club even though they can't sing, but can dance but I'm just not into show choir."

"So you're serious about cheerleading?"

"Yes but I'm not going to do it if you and Mia doesn't want me to."

"You shouldn't let people stop you doing what you love. Do you think your mom would have made it to Broadway if she had listened to half of the people that told her she couldn't make it? If you want to be a cheerleader then that's fine by me and don't worry we'll speak to Mia and make her understand. Now, you better hang this uniform up if you want to wear it for school tomorrow" Santana says handing Brice the cheerleading uniform.

"Thanks Mami."

Santana smiles at her son and exits his room. As she closes the door behind her, she turns around to find her wife standing there.

"Why does Mia have a face like thunder? I asked her what was wrong and she just yelled at me to ask Brice."

"We'll talk in the bedroom" Santana says gesturing for her wife to go first.

When they enter the bedroom Rachel takes a seat on the bed whilst Santana says standing up in front of her.

"Brice became a cheerleader" Santana says.

"Please tell me you didn't freak out on him."

"I might have a little bit at first, but I talked to him and I accepted his decision. We might have a harder time trying to convince Mia though."

"So she isn't happy about it?"

"Nope. She thinks that Brice is ruining her life."

"Should we call a family meeting? It'll be better to sort this issue out sooner rather than later."

"Okay. I'll get Brice and you get Mia and we'll meet you in the living room in five minutes."

"How come I get the angry child?" Rachel asks.

"Because I'm the angry parent and sometimes it doesn't bode well when you put us together. Do you remember her quinceañera?"

"Okay fine, I'll get Mia."

"Okay so we are about to begin the Berry-Lopez family meeting regarding Brice's decision to join the cheerleading squad" Rachel announces.

"Do we have to do that every time?"

"Santana, honey be quiet. So Brice had made this decision that both your mother and I accept and this is an opportunity for Mia and Brice to talk this out. So Mia, Brice wants to be a cheerleader, but he said he wouldn't if you didn't want him to."

"I don't want him too."

"Would you care to explain why other than just repeating you don't want him to?" Rachel asks.

"Cheerleading was my thing and now you're going to come in and ruin that. People already think you're weird and now you're a cheerleader people are going to think your gay too" Mia answers.

"I don't care what people think and I don't get why it makes me gay. I get to spend most of my time around hot cheerleaders" Brice says.

"The boy's got a point" Santana says.

"Yes well we all know of your infatuation with cheerleaders" Rachel states.

"I was just saying the boy had a point, but if we're talking about my high school experience then there were also a pretty hot glee nerd too."

"That might have been sweet if you hadn't called me a nerd."

"Moms you're kind of getting off track" Brice interrupts.

"Sorry Brice. It's your turn now to tell Mia why you want to be a cheerleader."

"I like dancing and I like gymnastics so cheerleading sounded like a good choice. Coach said I had potential."

"If this is something that your brother is passionate about then you should support him.

"That's what we always say, we are a family and we support each other no matter what. Brice was willing to give up something that makes him happy just because it didn't make you happy." Rachel explains.

"You really want to be a cheerleader?" Mia asks.

"Yeah but mom's right I won't do it if you don't want me too. I know Mami said that I shouldn't let people stop me from doing what I want but you're my sister and I don't want you to hate me for it."

"I don't hate you" Mia says walking over to her brother and pulling him into a hug.

"McKinley better get ready because they've just acquired the best bother sister cheerleading combination ever."


	31. Partners

**46. Partners**

_"Are you going to call the police and have me arrested or are you going to turn around and pretend this never happened?"_

There were only two options to Rachel's question and either answer would change Santana's life dramatically.

She could do the right thing and call for back up and have Rachel arrested. There would be one less killer on the street and she would have done her job, but that would mean that she would lose Rachel too.

The other option was to pretend that she hadn't seen anything. She could just turn around and leave and let Rachel do whatever it is she did. But what would happen then? Would Santana stay with Rachel knowing that she was sleeping next to a serial killer every night or would they break up? Every scenario that she came up with ended with her losing Rachel and she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted.

Santana loved Rachel. That was the only thing she was sure of during this fucked up situation.

Santana thought that she only had two options but there was another. It was an option that she never thought she would ever consider especially when her job was to protect the citizens of New York.

She lowers her gun and puts it back into her holster.

"We need to get rid of the body" Santana says.

"Santana no! I meant what I said, you either turn me in or leave me to finish alone."

"It will be quicker if I help and then we can go home and talk about this."

"I don't want you involved."

"I'm already involved. I got involved the minute I walked through that door. I could lose my job over what I've already seen."

"Then have me arrested."

"If I did that then I would lose you too and I don't want that either. We just need to get rid of the body and then we can talk about this at home. How do you usually do this?"

"I think it's better if I don't tell you that. I really think it's better that you leave."

"How are you going to get the body out of here?"

"I usually use my car but he drove me home from the bar so I'll have to use his."

"I put out an ABP on his car, so if an officer spots it they'll be on the lookout. The won't be able to pull it over or anything but it's movements will get logged."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Rachel asks.

"We could try and stage it. Derek Chance was a known drug dealer but recently there had been mutiny within his crew. There would be plenty of people that would want him dead" Santana explains.

"Are you sure you want to do this? There is no going back afterwards."

"I'm sure."

* * *

Santana can't sleep. She's lying in her bed with Rachel next to her, but her mind is racing. They hadn't talked about what happened yet, Santana isn't sure that she's ready to.  
She's a detective for the New York Police Department who spends their life catching killers, but tonight she just helped one cover up a murder.

Before Santana can overthink anymore her cell phone rings. She reaches over and grabs it off the bedside table and answers it.

"Hello. Okay, I'll meet you there."

Santana ends the call and gets out of the bed. She quickly changes and heads for the door but when she puts her hand on the door knob she hears Rachel call out.

"Where are you going?"

"To work. I got a call about a homicide" Santana replies.

"Is it?" Rachel asks.

"Yeah it's Derek. I'll keep you updated."

When Santana arrives at Chance's house, her mind quickly flashes back to when she walked in on a bloodied Rachel with a knife in her hand.

When she walks into the kitchen she isn't surprised by what she sees. She saw it all last night when she posed Derek's body and left him slumped against the kitchen counter.

There are a couple of people from forensics working the scene. One particularly was working on the back door Santana had entered last night. She was just relieved that she remembered to clear it of her fingerprints before she left.

Santana makes her way over to her Lieutenant who was talking to the forensic working on Derek's body.

"What do we have?" Santana asks.

"Looks like Chance finally got his comeuppance. At the moment we're assuming one of his associates finally had enough. There's evidence that some cocaine has been stolen but if it's a member of his gang we probably won't get a conviction. These bastards have slipped though the net countless of time and I doubt it'll be any different this time. At least we have one less asshole on the streets. Once you get the report put it on my desk. You're doing a good job Lopez. It might not have been in the right circumstances, but you finally got your man."

Lieutenant Barnes pats Santana on the shoulder before leaving her at the crime scene.

* * *

Santana was frustrated. No, she was fucking angry. Thomas Clarke was a killer, he had been released from prison a month ago and already he had added another body to his count. Santana had fought endlessly to stop him from getting parole, but her efforts were wasted and he was released.

Santana knew he would kill again. He was even suspected of killing a fellow inmate in prison but it was never proved. She thought someone like him deserved the chair and that's when she had an idea. She started to see things differently, there were still certain states that had the death penalty and she was sure if New York was one of those states then Thomas Clarke would be dead by now and the innocent women that he killed three nights ago would be alive.

So if there was justice in the death penalty, then there was also justice in what Rachel had been doing. They had partnered up before to cover up Derek Chance's murder and they got away with it. That's why when she enters their apartment that night she walks straight over to her girlfriend and hands her a case file.

"Thomas Clarke. I want you to take care of him"

* * *

_A/N So the challenge is over and I managed to write chapters for thirty one words. I want to thank the GleeChallengers for setting this challenge and I want to thank everyone for reading and especially to those that have taken the time to review._

_Last but not least a massive thank you to Beebeeborez. We've spent the past month coming up with these plots together and I'm grateful for the time she spends with me, coming up with ideas and editing what I write despite our time difference. It's been a lot of fun and we have two new stories in the works so may the fun continue!_

_Live_Young._


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